To Tame An Animal
by Zana Moon
Summary: [AU] Animals cannot have hope, especially when they've been caged for most of their life. And just because they're caged, doesn't mean they're tame. So when a human girl shows up, why does Inuyasha begin to feel otherwise? [InuxKag]
1. Part One

**A/N:** Okay, this I started this fic about a month or two ago and never finished it because I started writing my Kingdom Hearts/Fullmetal Alchemist crossover instead. (Actually, I'm still writing that one too, so go check it out. :cough:_shameless plug_:cough:) So then I felt kinda bad. I hate not finishing things. So I've deicided to take a short break from my crossover and complete this. Half of its already done, so it won't take long. It was supposed to be songfic, but it got kinda long and spaced the lyrics out way too much, so I took them out. So now I'll just say it was _inspired_ by the song 'Animal I Have Become' by Three Days Grace. I reccomend you listen to it. It's a good song, and (in my humble opinion) goes perfectly with my fanfic. :D

Although I'm not sure how good this fanfic is turning out. And I don't really care that much; I just wanna finish it. Which I can probably do by the start of next week, yay! Anyway, it's AU and slightly sci-fi. But still Inuyasha. -nodnod- Read, review, and have a nice day.

**Disclaimer: **I own diddly-sqaut, OKAY?

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**I.**

He ran. He ran as fast as he could. Speeding down the dank, grey corridors, as if Hell was at his heels. There were so many halls, so many obstacles, barring him and trying to slow him, to stop him. Yet his feet kept moving, nothing but friction limiting his speed. He _ran_.

But he did not run _for _his life. He ran _because_ of it.

He was fast, maybe the fastest one there. But speed wasn't enough; it never was. The sirens always proved that sound traveled faster than any being, him included. He could never outrun the noise. As soon as he took off, they flared to life and shrieked, over and over, throughout the entire compound. It was bearable enough for a human, but for him, it was deafening beyond imaginable. The noise was a like nail that was being hammered into his skull, an explosion of pain.

Sometimes, the sirens alone were enough to make him collapse, to fall to the concrete ground with his hands pressed over his sensitive ears and writhe in agony until they turned the alarms off.

But sometimes, when a wave of determination struck him, he would ignore the blood beating in his ears and continue running. It happened rarely, but today he managed. The pain was as sharp as ever, but he didn't stop.

So then came the guards.

With the ongoing sirens, he couldn't think. It hurt too much to concentrate on anything but action. The robotic guards came first, as a way of minimizing possible harm to the human ones. Their programming was limited to apprehending the target and protecting the human guards, though, so the droids could not defend themselves and had little thought process. Thus, he could easily rip through them, claws slicing them in half as he ran by. It required no thinking, only action, so he always got past that part too.

But the humans; he could _never _get past them.

Already worn out by the noise and the attacks from the droids, he never stood a chance. Determination can only take you so far, after all. The humans, armored and armed, surrounded him and fired. Jolts of electricity shot through his body, increasing his pain threefold. It continued until everything went black.

They only used tranquilizers on the well-behaved subjects.

And Inuyasha was never well-behaved.

--------

He awoke back in his cell. Another escape attempt had failed. They always failed; it was nearly impossible to get out of this place. Inuyasha would have described it as completely impossible had he not seen it done before.

For it had been done. One subject was able to escape the Facility. It was six years ago, but Inuyasha would never forget it. How could he? On the same day that subject escaped, Inuyasha's brother, his only living family, the only one he had, abandoned him.

_The alarms were going off, the droids were scrambling, people were shouting. To many of the subjects, it was loud and confusing and frightening. Some of them began to wail, adding to chaos' din. A ten year old Inuyasha had his face pressed up to the bars of his door, despite the noise, hoping to catch what was going on. _

_The grey corridors flashed red with each scream of the sirens posted on the walls. One of the guards rushed past Inuyasha's cell, yelling information into a palm-com while simultaneously loading a heavy duty gun. Inuyasha lost sight of the man as he disappeared down the corridor, but a scream soon followed once he was out of view. Someone was coming from the direction the guard had went, and he wasn't human._

_Inuyasha knew it was his half-brother before he even saw him coming; he knew the scent of course. But Sesshomaru also smelled of blood, and it wasn't his. Putting two and two together, Inuyasha realized what had happened. He was shocked but not scared._

_A young man with silver hair and pointed ears was running down the long stretch of hall, red blood dripping from his claws. Inuyasha reached out for him, his arms thin enough back then to fit through the bars of the door. As the demon raced by his cell, Inuyasha cried out, "Brother!"_

_Sesshomaru jerked to a stop and turned his head around. He looked as if he had just been insulted. It was common knowledge that he did not like being related to Inuyasha, because his little half-brother was also a little half-demon, born of a different mother and human one, no less. To him, Inuyasha was a nuance and a mar in their family line._

"_Get me outta here," the young Inuyasha pleaded. "I wanna escape too! Let me go with you, please!"_

_For a moment, the disgust and contempt on Sesshomaru's face faded, replaced with something unreadable. He gave Inuyasha a considering look, as if he was thinking over the plea for help. Inuyasha took this as a hopeful sign and quietly waited for his brother's response._

"_No," Sesshomaru finally said, softly but firmly. "You must do this on your own. You must cut your own path and prove yourself."_

_Before Inuyasha could protest or even ask what he had meant by that, the sound of many fast approaching foot-steps reached their ears. Without a final word or glance, Sesshomaru was off again._

_Inuyasha was left shell-shocked. He knew that his older half-brother did not love him, but he never believed he completely hated him either. Sesshomaru, being five years older, had taken care of both of them after their father died. (Inuyasha's mother had been long since dead, and Sesshomaru never knew his mother.) When the government got a hold of them and sent them to the Facility, they were separated most of the time, but Sesshomaru was still _there._ He had always been there with him, even if reluctantly. They might not have gotten along and they might not have liked each other, but the fact of the matter was that they were brothers, and brothers had to stick together. _

_And yet Sesshomaru had still left, left without him, and now Inuyasha had no one, no one at all..._

Inuyasha was never sure what angered him the most: his older brother's betrayal or the fact that he couldn't escape this place like Sesshomaru had. Sesshomaru escaped on his first try, and that was the last anyone had seen of him. Inuyasha tried to escape on a weekly basis, but his attempts were always foiled. It was frustrating beyond belief, so much to the point that Inuyasha no longer made attempts in hope that he would break free. He had no hope; his breaks for freedom were now done only out of stubbornness and routine.

Venting his anger, Inuyasha slammed his fists into the wall. It left no dent or tear, however; under the plaster white paint, the wall was made of a metal stronger than steel. Still, Inuyasha proceeded to pound the wall until there was a good amount of blood on the wall and his knuckles. Then, suddenly tired, he collapsed onto the small, metal cot in the corner of his cell and closed his eyes.

He had nothing and no one. And, according to the Facility team, he _was_ nothing and no one. He was a thing, a creature, a test subject for their pet projects. Nothing more than an animal.

He closed his eyes but didn't sleep.

He didn't want to sleep. He wanted to scream.

**II.**

"Is it working?"

Inuyasha could barely hear the voices. They sounded blurry, as if whoever was talking was trying to do so while they were underwater. And his mind was foggy; he couldn't quite remember what he was doing before, or what was going on now. He felt lost, but it was a familiar feeling. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he knew he had been through this kind of thing many times before. Only this time, his arm _really _hurt, for some odd reason.

"No," said another murky voice. "The serum was injected approximately two hours, fifteen minutes ago, but it still won't take. His immune system keeps attacking it despite the immunodeficiency we'll applied earlier."

"Why does the immune system attack it anyway?" asked someone else. "It's not as if the serum's a harmful bacteria or pathogen, but the quite the opposite."

"It's still a foreign substance," scoffed the other voice. He added something else, but Inuyasha didn't catch it. It dawned on him that maybe he should try opening his eyes now, but a part of him wanted to keeps his lids shut. Maybe it was better to not know what was going on this time.

"And the wounds?" a voice inquired.

"Unhealed, of course. In fact, the intrusion of the serum seems to have disrupted the natural healing process."

"Permanently?" Inuyasha heard someone ask, and not worriedly but rather curiously, which offended him somewhat. His brain was starting to clear up; and the pain in his left arm grew sharper. He kept his eyes shut, not wanting the scientists and doctors to realize he was now awake.

"No, it's most likely temporarily, just until the white blood cells kill off the serum units entirely. We can always do a quick blood transfusion if the subject loses too much."

The stench of blood, medicines, and sterilized equipment, along with the general hospital smell, made Inuyasha feel dizzy and the air seemed too thin and stiff for breathing. The pain in his left arm wasn't helping either. He cracked an eye open, just ever so slightly, and tried to get a look at his arm without moving his head. He couldn't see much of it, but out of the corner of his eye, he noticed there was a lot of red.

Great.

Inuyasha remained silent and still, letting them load him onto a stretcher and wheel him down the seemingly never-ending grey hallway back to his cell, where they dumped him onto to his cot unceremoniously and locked the door behind them as they left. As soon he could no longer hear or smell any humans nearby, he immediately sat up and examined his arm.

The Facility's science team had been testing a potential healing serum on him. In order to see if it worked, however, Inuyasha needed wounds to be healed. That's why he now found a neat, ordered column of incisions going down the inside length of his arm. Each cut varied in length and depth, and some hurt much worse than others, which made him wonder what else they had added to those scalpels they used on him. All of the cuts were still bleeding, lines of red running down his arm. He recalled what the scientists had said about the failed healing serum and sighed.

Just great.

Inuyasha just stayed on his bed all day, staring up at the nondescript ceiling. Apparently he was not needed for anymore testing today, and there were no evaluations or groupings scheduled either. There wasn't anything in his cell but the bare basics, so that left him with lying on the bed to day dream.

His cell was just a ten by ten foot square. Three of the walls were made of metal and the front wall was made of "everything-proof glass" that was reinforced with thin but insuperable micro-steel netting, making it look like a transparent grid. You could barely see the door, which was accented only by the com-lock and the small window. The com-lock was a rectangular shaped box on the outside of the door that asked for a ten digit code and staff fingerprint in order for the door to be opened. The "window" was just a small part of the front wall that had no glass, just the netted bars. Inuyasha wasn't sure why this was; the glass wall was built to filter in air, so he had enough oxygen, and food was delivered through a chute that slid open on the back wall. He supposed it might be there to allow sound pass through more easily and that the Facility didn't want to waste money on buying speakers instead. They are a sect of the government, after all, and the government doesn't like spendthrifts.

After about an hour or so, he raised his arm up to examine it again. Some of the cuts had scabbed over already, but the bigger ones were actually still bleeding a little. Inuyasha wished those doctors and scientists would just stop screwing up his body. But then again, that was the whole point of this place. And there were others here, full demons, who got it worse than he did. Being only part demon himself, a halfling, he was an item of interest and therefore was spared from any overly dangerous experiments the Facility had in store. They wouldn't risk killing him; halflings were too rare.

Inuyasha wasn't sure if he was grateful for that or not. One thing was positive, however: humans were despicable and weak. He hated them, for obvious reasons, but that also meant he hated a big part of himself. In fact, he blamed his human half for his weakness and inability to break free of this place. If only he was a full demon, like his brother, then maybe he would be strong enough...

A familiar scent suddenly wafted past his nose. He turned his head over towards the door, spotting a black haired woman in white scrubs. She was armed with an ID card hanging on chain from her neck and a small push cart filled with medical supplies. The nurse slowed as she walked by his cell, peering in at him and giving a friendly little wave of her fingers. But something caught her eye, and she jerked to a stop.

"Inuyasha," she gasped, staring at him from behind the grid-glass of his cell. "What happened?"

"Huh? Oh, you mean this?" he said off-handedly, poking his red arm. Most of the blood had dried, but some was still wet and got on his finger. He absently wiped it off on the bed sheet.

"Oh _dear_. I'm coming in," the nurse announced. She punched in her code and pressed an index finger to the scanner, not bothering to activate the security feature that would have pinned Inuyasha to the wall (to keep him from getting through the door while it was open), even though all employees were required to when entering a subject's cell. The nurse always ignored that rule, because she actually _trusted _Inuyasha to stay put, which surprisingly, he always did. (But only for her.)

The com-lock binged and the door slid open, allowing the nurse and her push cart inside. Wordlessly, Inuyasha sat up and held out his injured arm as was expected of him.

Nurse Higurashi was probably the only human being, besides his deceased mother, who Inuyasha liked. She seemed a bit delusional when it came to her job; she referred to the test subjects as "patients" and tried to act as if the Research Facility was really some type of rehabilitation center and not a secret government laboratory. He couldn't blame her for fooling herself though, since he figured that she didn't have a choice when it came to working here. No, she was too good-hearted and caring to willingly work in a place like this. It was obvious that she was disgusted with it, under her cheerful smile, but Inuyasha was glad that she was around. The nurse was the only member of the staff that treated the subjects as if they were actual people and not just test material.

"Honestly, I don't understand why they treat you like this," she was saying in a disapproving tone. She grabbed a bottle off her cart and aimed it at his arm, pressing the nozzle down and spraying a sheet of white foam over his wounds. The foam bubbled and fizzed for a few minutes, then Inuyasha's skin began repairing itself at last, a thin layer of new skin knitting up the cuts. "See? That didn't take long at all, but those good-for-nothing, so called doctors are too lazy to apply even just a little bit of Med-spray? Tsk tsk," Nurse Higurashi shook her head, replacing the Med-spray bottle and taking out a clean towel to wipe the foam off Inuyasha's arm with. There were still pale marks on his arm where the cuts had been, but they wouldn't scar and he wasn't bleeding anymore.

"Thanks," he muttered, rolling his sleeve back down.

"You're welcome, hon," replied the nurse, re-organizing her cart as she prepared to leave, as a few other "patients" required her attention as well. She stopped at door before she left, giving him a small smile and adding, "Remember, if you need any help with anything, just say so and I'll do my best."

He had always wanted to ask her for help escaping this hell hole, but he knew there was nothing she could do. She was a prisoner too, a different kind of prisoner but just as trapped as he was. So he just rolled his eyes instead and told her, "I'm fine, Ms. Higurashi. But thanks."

The nurse left and Inuyasha was alone once more, with nothing to do. He laid back down on his bed again, closing his eyes and falling into another fantasy. He was still awake, however, and he made sure this was so. Otherwise, instead of fantasies, there would be nightmares.

**III.**

Inuyasha never saw Nurse Higurashi again.

Oh, she still worked at the Facility; they just moved her to a different section. Inuyasha had just barely been able to badger this information out of a guard. Apparently, she had been getting too attached to the subjects, treating them as if they were equals. Also, the cameras caught her breaking rules from time to time; minor rules, but rules nonetheless. Rumor had it that she had been relocated to the West Ward, which is where they kept the subjects they used for genetic experimentation. It's said that most of the GE subjects become grotesque and comatose. Maybe the Facility thought the nurse wouldn't like working with ugly, non-responsive creatures, but that just meant that they didn't know Ms. Higurashi very well...

Inuyasha fell into a sulk. The nurse had been the closet thing he had to friend, and now they had taken her away too. He had always been lonely, but this was true loneliness now. It wasn't that there wasn't anyone left to talk to; he could talk to the doctors, scientists, guards, and occasionally, the other subjects (the research team sometimes threw them together in a room to study how they interacted) all he wanted. But just because you're talking to someone doesn't mean they're listening or that they care. The staff didn't want to converse with such a low creature that was beneath them, and his fellow subjects were either antisocial, too depressed, hateful, or literally insane and therefore incapable of providing any companionship.

So he soon gave up on companionship all together. What good were friends anyway? He didn't need anyone, he decided. He just needed to get out of there. It was the only thing he had to live and look forward to now.

That's what he firmly and stubbornly believed in, for a while, that loneliness was just a state of mind and one could be made immune to its effects by simply not giving a damn. Indifference became something of a religion to him, and he devoted himself completely to this belief of not caring about anything or anyone.

Then _she _showed up, causing Inuyasha to experience a major loss of faith.

It was after hours, the time when all of the test subjects were put back in their cells, locked up tight, and the humans clocked out and headed home for the night. No one but a couple of night guards posted at the very front entrances, who tended to sleep away their shifts, stuck around, and the inner sections of the building, where the subjects were kept, were completely human-free for the rest of the night. Like always, the place was dead quiet, save for the occasional buzz of a cleaning droid sweeping by and the soft beeping of some machine or the other.

Inuyasha was probably the only one still awake. So when he heard footsteps echoing loudly down the hall–loud because everything else was so quiet–his ears perked towards the disruptive noise and, interested, he peered out his cell to see who it could possibly be at this late hour.

The steps were slow and unsteady, as if whoever they belonged to was having difficulty walking. Eventually, the person got close enough for Inuyasha to catch a whiff of their scent, but it didn't help him identify them.

In fact, it just confused him more. This mysterious stranger smelled vaguely of that nice nurse, Ms. Higurashi–but not exactly the same. There was a number of plausible reasons to why this was, but the truth of the matter was something Inuyasha, at the time, hadn't even thought of.

It came became clear to him, though, when the stranger finally came into view.

"Kagome?"

**--TBC--**

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**A/N: **I think I've made Inuyasha into an emo. Or was he already emo to begin with..? xD By the way, somethings probably don't make sense yet. Do not fret. They will.

Eventually.

Hoping To Complete This Soon,

Zana

PS--I'm a review whore, so please drop in a review and express your opinions. Kthxbai!


	2. Part Two

**A/N: **Woo-hoo, part two! It's, uh, kinda long. And...educational!

No, stop, don't run away yet! What I meant to say was, it explains the background to the story. Have no fear; you will not be tested over this. You can relax now.

Hopefully this chapter will clear a few things up. Or possibly cloud everything some more. I dunno. It makes sense to me, but that's because I'm writing it. I know what I'm talking about, but most people can't follow my sinnous line of thinking. xD Oh well. Forward and onwards, my comrades! Charge!

All right, just ignore me. Read, review, and have nice day.

Losing My Mind and Taking Yours Down With It,

Zana 3

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**IV. **

"Kagome?"

The young girl who had been wandering the hall suddenly froze. Then, apparently deciding that she really _had _heard something speak her name, she let out a shriek that was half scream and half "OHMYGOD!" In her panic, she back stepped too quickly and tripped over her own feet, falling to the concrete floor. When she pulled herself off the ground, she found herself looking right into a pair of eerie orange eyes. After she caught her breath, she discovered that the eyes belonged to a silver-haired boy in a drab grey uniform, who looked to be about her own age. He might have looked human, if it weren't for those strange eyes, the dog ears that rested on top his head, and the fact that his nails and teeth seemed bit _sharper_ than they should be.

"Oh my god," she repeated, but this time in a shaky whisper. "H-How do y-you know my name?"

"I guessed," Inuyasha managed to reply, staring at her in his own shock. The girl looked just like her: same brown eyes, same black hair, same face. She was shorter, though, and obviously much younger. "So you _are _Kagome Higurashi, then?"

She stared at him with wide eyes, and although she opened her mouth, no words came out. So she just nodded.

"Your mom's a nurse here, right?" he said slowly.

Again, she gave a small nod. Inuyasha spread out his arms, as if to say '_Well there you go.'_ and looked at her expectantly. For a moment, the fear on her face was replaced with thoughtfulness.

Then she said, "So you know my mom? And she's talked about me?"

"Well duh I know her. I was one of her "patients"," he made air quotations as he said it. "She mentioned to me once that she had two kids; a little boy named Soda or something–"

"Souta," she corrected.

"–and a teenaged daughter named Kagome. And I can definitely see the resemblance. That, and you smell like her too."

"_What_?" Kagome stared at him. She didn't seem scared anymore; anxious maybe, and certainly confused, but not scared. At least not for now. "Oh, never mind. It's a demon thing, isn't it? Who _are _you, anyway?"

"A demon, like you said," he told her. Under his breath, he added, "More or less."

"I meant, what's your name?"

"Doesn't matter," he shrugged. "Names aren't important here. It's none of your business anyway."

"Hey, you know _my_ name, so I should be allowed to know yours!" She had crossed her arms and was beginning to look irritated, something he hadn't expected from the daughter of the kindly nurse.

"Inuyasha," he said, giving in. She did have a point, after all. "Although most know me as Number 7562-03." He pointed to the number printed on his shirt that was accompanied by a small bar code.

"Right," Kagome said slowly. She suddenly looked dazed again and she stood silent for a moment, apparently organizing her thoughts before she fell into a panic. Inuyasha watched her intently. He had a million questions that he wanted to ask her, all at once, but he remained quiet, not wanting to disturb her. He could tell just by looking at her that she was terribly upset, but he wasn't quite sure why. Most likely it was because her current surroundings, but she came here on her own (Inuyasha assumed). She wasn't even supposed to be here, for obvious reasons.

She took a few deep breaths and finally turned her eyes back on Inuyasha. She made an effort to appear nonchalant and casual, as if she stumbled upon secret government laboratories all the time, but her voice came out small and trembling. "What is this place?" she asked. "What's going on here? Why are all these demons here? This doesn't look like a correctional facility at all..."

"_Correctional _facility?" Inuyasha scoffed, raising an eye brow. "Who the hell gave you that idea?"

"That's what everyone's told," she said, "That's what they said. A correctional facility for troubled demons, where they're rehabilitated and then released when they can function properly as law abiding citizens."

So that's how the government explained it; a jail for demon criminals and delinquents. No wonder no one ever questioned what was going on at the big grey compound that was tucked away in the back of Lenear City. Haden was a country where demons were the minority, and therefore either scum, pesky, evil, or a combination of all three. This was especially true in Lenear, which was practically a demon free city. They wouldn't even bat an eye at demon being arrested for no reason and taken away without trial.

"This ain't rehab, girl," Inuyasha said, almost sounding annoyed at the very idea of it. "And have you ever heard of anyone being released? Do you see happy, "rehabilitated" demons skipping down the street, tossing flowers and having fun with their human friends?"

"W-Well, no but–"

"But what?"

"That's what we were told. My mom even said so."

"And you just believe anything anyone tells you? What if I said I was the king of Tharris, would you believe that too? Geez, you humans are so _gullible_," he spat. Inwardly, he winced. Why was he attacking her like this? He barely knew her and she hadn't done anything wrong, to him at least. He just felt so _irritated _for some reason.

Apparently, Kagome did too. Her voice picked up a few octaves as she glared at him. "I am _not _gullible," she seethed, clenching her fists at her sides. "Why do you think I'm here, if I really thought this was just a correctional facility? For your information, I knew something fishy was going on here so I came to investigate. Now, do you have anymore rude comments, dog-boy?"

This sudden change of personality caught Inuyasha off guard. Only a moment ago, Kagome had seemed small, confused, and scared. Now she looked like she wanted to knock the living daylights out of him, and possibly would have if it hadn't been for the cell wall that separated them. He blinked at her. Kagome sighed and deflated.

"Look, Inuyasha. I just want an explaination, okay? Because apparently, not only has the country lied to me, but so has my own mom." She was digging through a bag as she spoke, searching for something. Inuyasha wondered where the bag came from, then realized she must have had slung it over her back before. He then finally took note of what she wearing: black jeans, funky-looking shoes that seemed worn out, dozens of thin, silvery bracelets jangling around each wrist, and a large, white t-shirt worn under an open green button down shirt. Her outfit seemed old fashioned and out-dated, except for her t-shirt, which had the words 'Shattering Silence' constantly fading in and out in black flash-dye. He wondered what it meant, but didn't have time to ask since Kagome had finally found what she was looking for in her bag.

A small, beaten up palm-com was in one hand and a strange, pen-like object was in the other. Kagome clicked the unknown gadget, and Inuyasha wondered if it really was a pen. But when small lights started blinking down its side, he quickly discarded the idea. He noticed that she didn't turn on her palm-com until after the pen-shaped thing flashed red.

"Hey," he said, tapping on the glass wall to get her attention. "I'm not telling you anything until you explain a few things to me first."

Kagome paused what she was doing and looked up to give him a blank stare.

"How did you even get in here?" he prompted her.

"Oh," she blinked. "Well, security isn't very tight, at least not if you're trying to get in. I nicked my mom's ID card and some hair from her brush for that DNA scanner, and that was enough to get me through the main gate. The guard was asleep when I came in, so no problems there, and then I used the ID card again to enter this wing..."

"You do know there are cameras, right?" he interrupted.

"Well, duh," she waved the pen-thing at him. "I used this to interface with the security system and shut the cameras and alarms off before I left the main lobby."

"They sell gadgets that powerful to anyone now?" he asked dubiously.

"Of course not," she replied, replacing the device back into her bag and flipping open her palm-com. "I have a friend in Reem who builds this kind of stuff. He's like a technology prodigy or something."

"And this guy just sends you illegal, high-tech gadgets?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Kagome said, not looking up from her palm-com as she tapped the blue-lit screen from time to time. It occurred to Inuyasha now that she had probably used the other device to debug the area in order for her computer to operate from inside the Facility. "He started sending me some of his stuff so I'd forgive him. Now I think he just does it to impress me. But at least it came in handy."

"Who is 'he'? And what did he want your forgiveness for?" Inuyasha was straying from his original line of questioning, which made him wonder why he was suddenly interested in this girl's personal life and such trivial things. It was a new, strange experience for him, to have someone not only listen to him but also reply. He was not used to engaging in conversation. And for some weird reason, he really liked hearing Kagome's voice, which would have disturbed him if he stopped asking questions long enough to think about it.

Kagome finally looked up her palm-com and glanced at him. "It's kind of a long story," she said uncertainly, probably wondering what this had to do with anything going on now.

"I won't be going anywhere soon," he replied.

"Yeah, about that. Why are you locked up in here for?" she asked, palm-com poised in her hand, ready for her to take notes on the situation.

Inuyasha shook his head. "Tell me your story first."

Kagome let out a sigh of annoyance and flipped her palm-com shut. "Fine. But then you're going to tell me everything." She sat down indian-style on the cold, concrete ground. Inuyasha, who's legs were starting to ache, quickly followed suit.

"Okay," Kagome began. "Long story short: A couple months ago, I was in a chat room and this guy logs in and starts asking me to send him pictures of myself, if I wanna met with him somewhere, if I own any sexy lingerie..." Kagome made disgusted face and shook her head. "A total perv, you know? And he wouldn't stop bugging me, 'cos I happened to be the only female in the chat room. So I go to his profile to report him to a mod, and guess what?"

Inuyasha wasn't sure if she wanted him to actually guess or was being rhetorical, so he just titled his head to the side and waited to see if she'd continue. She did.

"It was Miroku! He was a friend of mine back in junior high, but then he and his godfather moved to Reem and I hadn't seen him since. So I invited him into a web-chat, you know, so we could see each other as we talked, and he totally flipped. He told me he was just playing around, but he knew I was mad at him for his behavior, so he started sending me some of his custom gadgets as gifts. I forgave him, but he still sends me stuff every now and then."

"So he doesn't...bug..you anymore?" Inuyasha asked. He tried to look bored, so she didn't think that he actually cared or anything, but was just slightly curious. In truth, he was annoyed with himself because he found himself caring very much. He also felt a great dislike for this Miroku guy, which made absolutely no sense. He didn't even know him.

Kagome seemed to be forgetting that she had trespassed onto government property and discovered a huge, dangerous secret. Talking to Inuyasha was just so easy though, which was odd considering that he was not only a virtual stranger but also a demon. It was like talking to an old friend, only they weren't friends and have never met before. This information was taking some time to get to her brain, however.

"Nope," she replied. "He used to flirt with every girl he met until he got an actual girlfriend. Her name's Sango. I chat with her and Miroku a lot. She keeps him in line."

The dislike for someone he never actually met suddenly vanished and was curiously replaced with relief. Again, Inuyasha was highly annoyed with himself. What was wrong with him? Why did he feel so _weird_? Usually his emotions, or lack thereof, never bothered him like this, but ever since this girl showed up...ugh. Maybe he was sick.

Mainly for a change of topic, Inuyasha pointed to her t-shirt with the flashing words. "What does that mean?" he asked.

Kagome stared at him. "You don't know who Shattering Silence is?" she asked, gaping at him as he shook his head. "They're only like the best band ever! Their songs have been topping the charts all year! How could not know of Shattering...oh." Suddenly, reality came rushing back to Kagome and she remembered where she was and who she was talking to. She tentatively reached out a hand and pressed her fingers against the invulnerable glass and grid-bars that imprisoned Inuyasha in his small, empty cell. Her hand slid down the wall and dropped to her lap.

"How long have you been in here?" she asked, her voice now quiet and sad.

"Since I was nine," he answered with a shrug. "That's about, what, seven years?"

Kagome flipped open her palm-com and typed something in. She was all business now. "All right. I want you to tell me everything about this place. Whatever's going on, it _can't_ be legal."

"And just what do you plan to do about it?" he asked her, in a tone that suggested there was nothing she could do.

"I'm going to expose this place, duh. I'll call a press conference or something. This is supposed to be a government for the people, yet we're being lied to and tricked. And let's not forget the meaningless war they started. I can't believe–"

"We're at war?" Inuyasha cut in. Kagome looked surprised.

"For the last two years, yeah. With Reem. You didn't know that?"

Inuyasha snorted. "I haven't heard anything about the outside world in ages; the humans say there's no point in telling us anything. We're _condemned_, Kagome. The last time I even caught a glimpse of the sky was when I was nine."

"That's...that's terrible," she whispered. She had the same exact look on her face that Inuyasha used to see on her mother's when she was working: sad and heartbroken. Her brown eyes were glazed over, and he wondered if she was going to start crying.

She didn't. The sadness on her face faded and was replaced with fury. She clicked something on her palm-com and the little red recording light shone brightly through the dim corridor. She held it upwards in her hand and said, "Tell me everything. Tell me the truth."

**V.**

So Inuyasha began his long explaination.

It definitely wasn't a correctional facility, he told her, but a _research_ facility. A team of the nation's best scientists, doctors, and scholars had been granted special permission from the government, as well as annul funds (unknowingly provided by Haden's own taxpayers), to set up a laboratory in the depths of Lenear and use it to whatever purposes they wished, so long as the government benefitted from it somehow. From what Inuyasha knew, it started off innocent enough, but soon their projects and experiments became more and more extreme, and many called for test subjects that were a little more complex than the simple lab rat. Testing on live humans was strictly forbidden, though. So they turned to demons instead.

Demonoids were the minority in Haden, and like so many other minorities in any world or country, their rights were often violated by the majority; in this case, the humans. Sometimes the road to equality is a short and peaceful one, but more often than not, it's the other way around. While most of the demons were actually peaceful protesters, it was a small group of demon extremists that caught everyone's attention when they wired a courthouse with explosives and blew the entire building to bits, killing all one hundred twenty-two humans inside. Years have passed since that incident, but no one forgot, and the government began it's anti-demon campaign. Any chance of gaining equal rights was ripped away, and demons have since been exiled, prosecuted, killed, and jailed. Many have fled to the neighboring country of Reem, where equality exists and human-demon relations are a lot less tense. This is one of the major reasons Haden had launched war against Reem two years ago.

So when the Facility Team was in need of more capable test subjects, someone mentioned using demons. Many of them share similar traits, structures, and genes to that of a human, so it was a sound idea. It was approved by their government sponsors almost immediately. Originally, only demons from jails and prison camps were used since, as a criminal, they were stripped of _all_ rights, making it vaguely legal. The jails were overflowing with prisoners anyway, so this was helping make more room.

But soon the Facility Team was starting to get picky. Certain types of experiments required certain types of demons. The prisons offered a large variety to chose from, but few were ever _just right_. Agents began to scope out potential test subjects outside of the prisons, innocent demons, and most of which that were quite younger than the usual batch of unwilling subjects. The scientists prefer younger specimens, as they are more susceptible to genetic alteration or, in laymen's terms, easier to mold. So the agents would search for a perfect or at least promising demon, many of which were only children, and would take them from orphanages or, like with Inuyasha and his brother, right off the street.

The higher ups eventually found about this selective kidnaping, but it turned out they didn't mind. No one cared if a few street rats disappeared, especially demon ones. Many government officials even applauded what they saw as a brilliant course of action. The useless demons were finally being put to good use, in their minds.

And some good did come out of it, but at terrible costs. Cures for five STDs, three types of cancer, and other various illnesses were discovered at the Facility. All of the cures and medications had to be tested first before being released to the general public, to make sure they were safe. The demons were the test subjects. Some had to be given the disease or illness first, and the earlier versions of the medications did not always work.

The Facility developed new diseases as well as cures. Biological warfare was used more than soldiers and bombs in the war with Reem. And again, their demons were needed to test these deadly weapons. There were also general experimentations as well, the kinds that didn't start out with a set purpose but merely a "If I do this, I wonder what will happen?" sort of attitude. The Facility Team often acted like spoiled, nasty children abusing their toys just for fun. They didn't care what–or rather, who–they broke. Subjects could be replaced.

Naturally, there were many deaths.

There were _always_ many deaths at the Facility. When Inuyasha absently mentioned the two year old demon-boy who died just that morning from an allergic reaction to whatever the scientists had carelessly pumped into him, Kagome blanched. Inuyasha himself was so used to it that he no longer felt sadness or fear when this sort of thing happened, but only hate.

In fact, even just talking about the Facility boiled his blood. Kagome sat there quietly and listened the whole time, never interrupting him. She noticed, though, that the more he talked about it, the angrier he grew. By the time he had spilled everything he knew to her, he looked so frustrated and upset that it almost scared her. She was very upset herself after hearing the horrible truth, but it was loose, surreal kind of feeling, as if her mind wasn't quite ready to accept it just yet.

After Inuyasha had finished, the two of them just sat in silence for countless minutes, Inuyasha glowering at the wall opposite of him and Kagome staring at the ground. Once everything had finally sunk in, Kagome tapped her palm-com and saved the information to a file, then shut the device off. She sighed heavily and turned around, leaning her back against the front of the cell wall, now back-to-back with Inuyasha.

"This–everything–it's all so awful," she said, her voice a small whisper. She pulled up her legs and wrapped her arms around them, resting her head on her knees. Kagome had known something was up, which is why she snuck inside in the first place, but she didn't know what to expect. Not this. This was overwhelming.

"Tell me about it," Inuyasha said with a humorless grin.

"What...what do they do to you?" Kagome asked, although she wasn't certain if she really wanted to know.

"They tend to test serums and modifiers on me. Nothing fatal. None of them have ever worked, though, which only makes the scientists more curious and ready to try something else out on me. They also like to put me through simulations a lot."

"What kind of simulations?" she asked. Inuyasha didn't answer right away, giving Kagome the pretty accurate idea that they weren't very nice simulations. She thought of the kinds of simulations normal people enjoyed–recorded music concerts, virtual role playing with friends, exploring the world without the hassle of actually leaving home–then she thought of the exact opposite of those fun things when it came to the Facility's sims.

"Endurance," Inuyasha eventually replied. "Strength. Intelligence. Behavior. They use simulations to test those kinds of things. They shove me in a room, start a program, sit behind a one way mirror, and watch how I react to whatever they decide to throw at me."

Kagome didn't want to know what kind of cruel sims the Facility probably used to study Inuyasha, so she didn't ask. It almost seemed that he was relieved that he didn't have to describe any of it, but Kagome could only guess this, as Inuyasha remained stolid as ever.

"Aren't you ever scared?" she wondered aloud. So far, whenever Inuyasha talked about his life and the Facility that dominated it, he only sounded bitter and angry. There were other small expressions about him as well, such as the dead glint in his eyes and the flatness of his voice when he spoke, but these were common traits of someone long imprisoned and hopeless. Perhaps he had been so used to fear that it he now was immune to it. Or maybe he was just good at masking his emotions.

"No," was his reply, just as Kagome had predicted. Even though they were back-to-back, she also knew that he had rolled his eyes when he said it. "There's nothing to be scared of anymore," he continued. "I've seen it all, I've been through it all. Except for death, but it's not like I have to worry about that. They won't kill their only halfling. That would be too nice of them, for one thing and–"

"You're a halfling?" Kagome had turned around to face him as she spoke, as if she had to get a better look at him to confirm this new information, or maybe see something in his appearance that she hadn't noticed before. Inuyasha did not turn around though, and he immediately stopped talking. He hadn't meant to mention his strange hereditary, his weakness. He had been careless and it slipped.

Despite the fact that he had refused to look at her or answer her question–or maybe because of it–Kagome had decided the answer for herself. "So you're half-human then!" she exclaimed, causing him to wince. "And the Facility was forbidden to test on humans, right? Not that they should be testing on any person, human or demon, but still, they're violating your rights."

"Shut up," he growled, cutting her off. He didn't want to hear a repetition of the very same thoughts he had once, long ago. "You don't know anything, so just shut up."

In his younger days, he always wondered why these humans hated him so much, and treated him so unkindly, when he was partly human himself. But he soon learned that being half-human wasn't enough. If you had even the smallest drop of demon blood running through your veins, you were still a demon. No, you were worse than a demon. You were a halfling, a mutt. Demons, like Inuyasha's brother, would hate you because you were part human, and humans would hate you because you were part demon. You belonged nowhere, and you were apparently only good for research, in Inuyasha's case.

"Don't tell me to shut up," Kagome snapped, throwing in a glare for good measure, even if it was wasted on the back of his head. "I don't know what your problem is, but you–"

Inuyasha whirled around, finally facing her, if only to yell in her face. "You don't know what my problem is? What, are you mental? Didn't I just tell you what my fucking problem is? Isn't it obvious?" His voice rose angrily with each word he spoke and it echoed throughout the holding cells. Kagome didn't lose face, but she did scoot back a few inches from Inuyasha's cell.

Somehow their conversation, which had started out quiet and even friendly, had escalated into a fight. Inuyasha hadn't meant to get angry at Kagome, and even while he yelled at her, he felt bad for it. But she had touched some sore spots, made him discuss his life when he was trying to forget it, and now she knew he wasn't even a full demon. Not to mention that just being around Kagome made him feel a fury of new, unknown emotions that kept making him feel funny and out of whack. So he clung onto anger, an emotion he was more familiar with, in defense.

"It was just an expression," Kagome snarled at him, her own voice growing louder without her actually meaning it to. "I know you've been through a lot and I know it must suck, but it's not like it's my fault! In fact, I'm trying to help! But now, all of a sudden you're acting like a big jerk, and I'm not going to help any jerks."

"Oh please, like _you_ can do anything to help _me_. You're just a stupid human girl who's going end up in a lot of trouble."

"No I won't. No one will ever know I was here and besides–"

"_I'll _know that you were here," Inuyasha said. "What makes you think I won't tell anyone? Breaking and entering, carrying illegal equipment, conspiring against the government..."

"You can go ahead and tell everyone you want," Kagome shouted, now rising to her feet and shaking with her own anger. "But no one will believe you, because you're just an dumb animal!"

'_Dumb animal, dumb animal, dumb animal...'_

The last two words echoed not only through the hall but in Inuyasha's head as well. Someone could have taken a sword and run it through him and even that wouldn't hurt as much those words did. And it wasn't like no one had ever called him that before, because they have, many times.

But for some reason, hearing it from her...why? Why did it hurt him so much? How could a human girl, one that he barely even knew, make him feel this way?

He didn't retort this time, but just stared dimly up at Kagome.

Then something unexpected happened. She started crying.

Not in big, heavy sobs but thin, silent tears trailed down her face and she raised a hand over her mouth, as if she was ashamed of it. "I-I didn't mean that," she murmured. "Inuyasha, I didn't mean that. I'm sorry. You just made me mad, and it slipped out. I didn't mean it."

The gears in his brain starting going again, and he glared at her. Silently, he got up off the ground and retreated to the back wall of his cell. He slid onto his cot and laid facing towards the wall instead of at Kagome.

"Inuyasha..." she tried, but he still ignored her.

"I said I was sorry."

He grabbed his thin blanket and threw it over top of him.

"Come on, Inuyasha. You called me a stupid human, remember. Inuyasha?"

Kagome let out a sigh and bent over to scoop up her bag. Tossing it over her shoulder, she stepped forward to Inuyasha's cell and tapped on the glass. He continued giving her the cold shoulder.

"Arrg, you're acting like such a child!" she said, "But you know what? Fine. Be that way. I said I was a sorry. What else do you want me to do?"

When she still received no answer from the halfling, Kagome growled in annoyance, gave up, turn around and left, storming back down the hall in direction she had came in earlier. Inuyasha listened as her foot-steps got farther and farther away, then he sat up and buried his face in his hands.

'_I'm such an asshole', _he thought to himself. What in the world was wrong with him? He just completely ruined...well, he wasn't sure exactly what it was he ruined, but he did know that ruined is what it was and he hated himself for it. He wanted to fix it, but Kagome was already leaving. He would probably never see her again and there was nothing he could do about it.

Just then, all of the lights went out and there was an audible click from far down the hall. The Facility compound was entering lock -down mode, as it did every night at one o'clock. Even the night guards left and went home, leaving the building to secure itself. All of the machines turned off, all the lights turned off, and every door locked itself.

At the same time the place became pitch black with the lock-down, a scream followed right after it.

Inuyasha jumped to his feet and pressed his face to the front of his cell wall, but although he could see in the dark, he couldn't see that far down to the doors. "Kagome!" he shouted, because the scream could have only come from her. "Are you okay?"

There was no response. Inuyasha was starting to feel anxious. Kagome hadn't got out before the lock-down. That meant she was trapped her until morning. But it the fact that she had screamed and now wasn't answering him that worried him the most. He tried again.

"Kagome!"

There was silence. And then, "Inuyasha! Help!"

"What's happened? Are you hurt?" he yelled. What should he do? What _could _he do? He was locked in a cell. He couldn't get to her. He was starting to actually panic, until he heard her shout:

"I can't see!"

Inuyasha sighed and shook his head.

**--TBC--**


	3. Part Five, er, I MEAN THREE!

**A/N: **First of all, I'd to thank everyone who's reviewed so far! You make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. xD No, but seriously, thank you. I thought this fic would turn out to be total crap, but you guys have made me feel, like, a gazillion times better about it. Yayers.

Now, about the fic itself. Here's a quick run down on the setting: First off, when I say 'alternate universe' I mean alternate universe. They're not even on Earth, but rather, a world similiar to Earth, just way more advanced. And with demons. As of now, Inu. and Kag. are in the Haden Research Facility (that's it's full name, but I'm too lazy to type all that out. xD) which is in Lenear City, which is in the country of Haden. Right next to Haden is the country of Reem, of whom they are at war with. Inuyasha also mentions a country called Tharris in a scracastic remark, but that one was made up solely for said remark and is unimportant. And I believe that's enough fictional geography for today. n.n

In this chapter, the point-of-view changes back and forth between Kagome and Inuyasha, just to give you a heads up. Originally, I planned to write it all in Inuyasha's point-of-view, but somehow I ended up exchanging them without even realizing it when I was writing, so...yeah. It's still third person and it only switches with after each section. (Which is what the roman numerals are about, btw. I don't know what I'll do after it reaches twenty, because I don't know all those numerals. xX; ) Hopefully this won't confuse anyone.

Also, I think I used the word 'annoyance' only a couple thousand times this chapter. But it's so not my fault. There aren't that many synonyms for 'annoyance', ya know. Annyoing, isn't it? Ha ha, yeah okay, I'll stop rambling now. I'm sure this author's note has gone on long enough.

See ya next chapter,

Zana

PS- This IS part three, not five. Sorry; movie joke, couldn't resist. Fifty bonus points to whoever gets it. xP

* * *

**VI.**

Kagome Higurashi was not afraid of the dark. She had long out grown such childish fears. After all, what was there to be afraid of? Dark was just an absence of light. And just because the light was gone, it didn't mean there were suddenly monsters lurking under your bed. Nothing actually _changed_; you just couldn't see as well, that's all. As she grew older, Kagome began to understand this. Now she was fully aware that the dark was nothing to be afraid of, and so she wasn't.

But there's dark, and then there's d_ark._

She had almost made it to the exit when it happened. The door clicked, which wasn't a good sign, and then without warning, the lights went out. Not one by one, and not flickering or dimming either. They just went out, all at once. There was light and then suddenly there wasn't. It happened in an instant. The door was right there in front of her, and then BAM!–everything disappeared, swallowed up by what could only be described as _pure darkness_.

Kagome had never known such a darkness could exist, and in the very back of her mind, she absently wondered if this is what it felt like to be blind. When she raised her own hand just inches from her face and couldn't see even the vaguest outline, her breathing quickened. She tried to wait for her pupils to dilate, to adjust to the change and take in more light so she could see better.

But there was no light. All of the machines had shut down and there wasn't even a glow of faint moonlight because there were no windows in this part of the building. Her pupils could dilate to the size of dinner plates and it still wouldn't help any.

So Kagome did the first thing that came to mind: she screamed.

"Kagome!" someone shouted, the sudden sound causing her to jump. "Are you okay?"

It was Inuyasha's voice, she realized with relief. So he wasn't snubbing her anymore? Well, then at least some good was coming out of this. She opened her mouth to reply, but she wasn't sure if she was facing the right way, or even what she was facing. The darkness choked her words before they even left her throat and Kagome was struck with a terrible feeling of being in an empty void in some nonexistent place, and that if she took a wrong step, she would fall forever into nothingness.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted again, after getting no reply from her. She thought he sounded worried, which was nice of him, but most of all he sounded_ real_, and that's what shook her free of the feeling of nothingness. Slowly, she sank to the ground, which also helped calm her as she discovered the hard, cold floor was still there, as it should be.

She had her anchor now, but the immense darkness was still too overwhelming. After finally finding her voice, she shouted back to Inuyasha for help, but she didn't realize how stupid that request was until it left her mouth. She half-expected him to point this out to her in annoyance, but instead, he actually asked her what happened and if she was all right.

Although she thought it was pretty obvious about what happened, she told him she couldn't see. She pressed herself to ground while waiting for him to say something, desperately trying to keep that feeling of realness. When Inuyasha didn't answer right away, though, the panic rose back up in her chest and she going to fall into the darkness again.

"You're all right Kagome," came Inuyasha's voice, as if he read her mind. He wasn't shouting anymore, but speaking in soft, soothing tones, letting the echo carry his words to her from his cell. "Just calm down," he instructed. "Take a deep breath. And don't you dare start crying!"

"I'm n-not c-crying," she sniffed, wiping at her eyes in annoyance.

"Yes you are," she heard him say. "Look, Kagome, it's just dark. You're fine. So pull yourself together all ready, will ya? If you can't see, then why don't you take out your little computer thing? It lights up, doesn't it?"

Although it was too dark to see, Kagome could feel herself blush at her own stupidity. Of course; she had a bag full of gadgets, many of which lit up when you were using them, just like Inuyasha said. A little clumsily, she opened her bag and felt through it contents, using her hands as her eyes to find her palm-com. A round, smooth shape was soon grasped in her hands and she hurriedly pulled it out and flipped the palm-com open.

A flash of blue light greeted her from the LCD screen as the handheld computer started up. Instant relief flooded through her as she finally saw her hands again, and everything within a three foot radius of her palm-com. Everything else beyond the scope of her device was still cave dark, but as long as she didn't focus on it, her panic stayed subsided.

"Thank you, Inuyasha," she said, in a normal tone with hopes that it was loud enough for him to hear. It must have been, because there was an audible 'feh' coming from his direction. Of course, with those ears of his, she could have probably whispered and he still would have heard her.

She thought about going back down there and talking to him some more, since she seemed to have been forgiven for her earlier remark, but the thought was brief and soon dismissed. The urge to get out of this strange, creepy place was much more stronger and with the thick darkness surrounding her, she wanted to leave as quickly as possible. Perhaps she could come back another time, once she was better organized and came up with some sort of plan to free the captives and/or dismantle the establishment. But for now, all she wanted to do was go home and go to bed. This was enough for one night.

She approached the steel double doors that lead to the exit, palm-com in one hand to light the way and her mother's ID card in the other to open the doors. She slid the card through the scanner and began punching in the code numbers that accompanied it.

"Um, Kagome..?"

"I'm sorry, Inuyasha, but I have to go now," she said as she finished the code and pressed 'enter' on the com-lock. She threw the ID card back in her bag and waited for the doors to slide open.

A short beep came from the com-lock, and Kagome looked back down at the tiny screen above the keypad. "'Access denied?'" she read with a frown. Retrieving the ID card, she swiped it again and entered the code number once more, this time making sure the numbers she typed in were exactly the same as the ones on the back of the card. Certain that the code was correct, she hit 'enter'.

Again, the door beeped, and the tiny screen repeated its previous message.

"It won't open, Kagome," came Inuyasha's voice. She ignored him and stubbornly re-entered the code, wondering what was wrong with the stupid doors. The results were the same as before, and the panic she had just recently escaped was beginning to catch up with her once more. Again and again, she tried to open the doors, her panic rising with each failure. Finally, after entering the code so many times, the com-lock refused to let her enter it anymore.

'SESSION TERMINATED' said the screen. Kagome stared at the digital words with a feeling of overwhelming doom. The doors weren't going to open for her. It was the only obvious exit, but she couldn't get through. She was trapped inside with the darkness, the silence, and the strange, sleeping creatures behind the glass walls.

_Trapped_. So much fear was packed into that one little word. That fear took control of Kagome, shutting down all other things like logic and common sense and courage. Her mind began conjuring up scary thoughts: what if the demons weren't all sleeping? What if one got out? What if something dangerous was lurking in that darkness, staring at her with hunger eyes, waiting for right moment to strike...

Just like Kagome wasn't afraid of the dark, she didn't believe in monsters hiding under your bed or in your closet. But such fears, even ones from childhood, are not simply abolished. You can out grow them, out think them, or overcome them, but the fear itself is not entirely gone, but rather tucked away in the recess of your mind, stored as something like a memory but usually forgotten. However, in certain circumstances, it can all come back to you.

It didn't just come back to Kagome; it hit her like a tidal wave. She was a scared little girl again, trapped in a dark room with horrible, evil monsters and no means of escape. She began to bang her fists on the metal doors in her panic, crying and begging them to let her out, to please let her out. When the doors still refused to budge, she wailed and banged harder.

The palm-com fell from her hand as she slammed it to the door in vain. It skittered to the floor and folded shut upon impact, taking all of the light away with it.

No longer able to see the doors directly in front of her, Kagome's sore fists fell to her side and hung there limply. Then she broke down, and fell to the floor herself.

**VII. **

"Let me out!" she screamed, banging repeatedly on the doors. The sound was deafening to him. "Please! Please let me out!"

Pleading with the doors was going to get her nowhere, and she was only going to hurt herself by hitting them like that. Normally, Inuyasha would have been annoyed by her hysterics, and might have yelled at her to stop it, to get a hold of herself. But instead, he stood there silently, almost as if he was transfixed. In truth, Kagome's hysteria was painfully familiar...

_The whole day had been a nightmare. Strange people had taken him away and brought him here, where he was herded from place to place, being poked and prodded, examined, tested, studied. No one would answer his questions and they wouldn't let him even see his brother. Everything was grey and cold, and everything seemed to have some sort of bar code or serial number printed on it: his uniform, his shoes, his cot, his food tray, and now, even his own upper right arm. He was just a kid, he told them, he hadn't done anything wrong, why was he being punished? Yet no one would answer him. _

_Night finally came and the strange, mean people shoved him in a tiny room by himself and left him. The front wall of the cell was made of glass, so he could see out it, but there was nothing out there to see except other cells full of unfortunates like himself and the grey walls that enclosed them all. He didn't like this place, so tried to open the door and leave. But the humans had locked it. No matter what he tried, it wouldn't open. Filled with panic, he beat on the glass, crying and emploring for someone to come and let him out, to please let him out..._

Back in the present, the banging had subsided, jerking Inuyasha free of his memories. He could hear Kagome sobbing by the doors, which was stirring up one of those unfamiliar emotions that irritated him so much. This emotion made him want to comfort Kagome, to make her stop crying. Locked in his cell, however, he couldn't comply. He had to do something, though, or else that emotion would never stop gnawing at him.

"Kagome," he called, peering out through his cell but still able to catch a glimpse of her. "Listen up. The Facility's gone into lock-down and only the head honcho here has the code to override it. You won't be able to leave until morning."

"W-What am I g-going to do then?" she replied, sniffling.

"Get a grip, first of all," he said, with just a hint of annoyance. He was really trying to sound calming instead of peeved, but it turns out he was more at home with snapping at people rather than being nice. Considering his situation, you couldn't blame him, but still, he needed to be patient and not get mad. He didn't want to scare Kagome or make her upset again. "And why don't you come back down here?" he suggested. "It be easier to talk to you if you weren't a mile away."

"I can't," she murmured, her voice small. "I-I'm too scared to move."

"There's nothing to be scared of," he said, with successfully not adding "You big wimp." (Not that he actually thought of Kagome as a wimp; it was a natural response to that sort of statement, regardless of who was saying it.) "Nothing's going to hurt you, okay? Now get up and walk, slowly, back down the hall. Just use your whatchamacallit as a flashlight."

"I dropped it somewhere," he heard her say.

"Then find it," he ordered, but at least he managed not to sound harsh when he said it. Kagome wasn't crying anymore either, from what he could hear, so he was making _some_ progress. It was better than nothing.

He could hear some shuffling from down the hall, then he heard Kagome get to her feet and say, "All right, I'm coming. But, Inuyasha?"

"Yeah?" he asked, leaning against the side of the wall while he waited.

"Will you keep talking to me, please? My palm-com's light isn't that bright, so it'll help me find you better if I can follow your voice. And...and, well, it's a lot less scary here when it isn't so quiet."

"Yeah, okay." He sighed; what was he supposed to say? "Um, so...nice weather we're having?" he tried, then growled and shook his head. "Arrg, look, I'm not really good this kind of thing."

"At what? Talking?"

"Yeah, geez. Whaddya want to me to talk about?"

She seemed to be thinking about it. Then she said, "Tell me about your life."

"Not much to tell," he said, listening to her foot-steps. She was still a little ways off and was making her way back very slowly, almost carefully, but at least she seemed to have calmed down some. "Pretty much everything I told you earlier."

"But what about your life before you came here?" she prompted. "Where did you live, what did you do? Who was your family? Oh, but uh, if you don't want to talk about--" she began, realizing that maybe this was a subject Inuyasha didn't want to discuss. But he cut off and starting telling her about his younger days, back when he was free. He didn't want her to think he was weak and sensitive, after all. He stronger than that. Right?

So he told her about his parents, his demon father and the human woman he fell in love with it. He mentioned his half-brother, the older son from their father's first marriage. When Kagome asked where they were, Inuyasha just shrugged and told her that both his parents have been dead a long time and he hadn't seen his brother in years.

"Oh. I'm sorry," said Kagome.

"Feh. Whatever. It's not like–" he stopped, mid-sentence, and sniffed the air. "Hey, you're almost here."

"Really? Your voice stills sounds far off to me. How can you tell?"

"I can smell you."

"What are you trying to say, that I have B.O.?" She sounded offended, but that was better than her being scared, so Inuyasha didn't have to feel bad about that. In fact, once he started talking to her and got her going, her panic seemed to have had completely disappeared and she was acting normally again.

"No," he said quickly, before she got upset. "My nose is really sensitive, that's all. Everyone has their own scent and I can identify them by that if they're nearby, like you."

"Oh," said Kagome. "Right, you have a dog nose, huh? So, um, what do I smell like then?"

"You smell nice," Inuyasha replied without thinking. As soon as the words left his mouth, he froze. _You smell nice?_ What? Where did that come from? No. He did _not_ just say that.

Oh, but he did. He heard Kagome come to a stop, probably just as shocked and embarrassed as he was. Inuyasha felt his face go red. What a stupid thing to say! Now she probably thought he was freak.

"Uh, thanks," she replied with a slight chuckle, then started walking towards him once more. Inuyasha blinked in surprise at this unexpected reaction, but he felt a little better when she added, "You're really weird, d'you know that?"

"Yeah, well I'm part-demon, what's your excuse?" he shot back, feeling a lot less awkward now.

"Hey! I am not weird," Kagome asserted. Her voice sounded much louder now, and Inuyasha realized this was because she was now standing back in front of his cell. Finally. She was holding her palm-com in a death grip with both hands, apparently afraid she might drop it again and lose her only light source. She looked a bit shaken and he could sense her fear, but she was holding up and even flashed him a small, triumph smile.

"Oh, sorry. My bad. I meant to say you're a complete spazz," he told her, but he grinned back at her to let her know he was joking.

"Yeah, I guess I have to agree with you on that one," she said, half-chuckling, half-sighing. Her shoulders sagged and the relief that was on her face just a moment ago was replaced with worry as she remembered the tight situation she was in. She looked at him through the glass and her eyes looked liked they were tearing up. "So what do I do now?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

"Good question. We'll think of something, all right? Just..." he stared back at her and said, "Just don't cry."

**--TBC--**

**

* * *

**

_**(A word with the author...)**_

**Kikyo: **Um, excuse me? I have a question, Miss Author!

**Zana:** Ooookay. Shoot.

**Kikyo:** Do I make an appearance in this fic?

**Zana:** Do you have your bow with you?

**Kikyo:** No...

**Zana:** Good, then I can safely say that no, you will NOT be making an appearance. Nothing personal, Kiks, just don't how to squeeze you in.

**Kikyo:** "Nothing personal" my ass...grr, my agent will hear about this!

**Zana:** All righty then. Anyone else have any questions? Yes, the dorky guy in the back, whaddya wanna know?

**Hojo:** Are any other characters making appearances?

**Zana:** Yes, eventually, and to answer your next question, no, you're not one of them.

**Hojo:** -lowers hand- Oh. Okay. -sniff-

**Zana:** Fine, you can be an extra!

**Hojo:** Yippee!

**Kikyo: **Hey, what about me?

**Zana:** (I thought you left...) Um, okay, you can be Kagome's stunt double. Is everyone happy now? No? Good. I gotta get going, there's a huge slice of pizza with my name on it! Drop in a review and keep these fictional freakazoids away from me! Ciao!


	4. Part Four

**A/N: **Okay, this chapter is incrediably short, but the good news is, the following chapter should be up sometime during the next day or two. In fact, if all goes according to plan, this entire story should be finished by next week. Nanowrimo starts tommorow, but I really want to finish this that I'm actually going to go ahead and do so and just start my Nano project a week late. Oh, the things you do for fanfics. n.n

However, if this isn't done by next Monday, then you'll hafta wait until the start of December before you'll see another update. I have to have _some _time write my novel, or else I won't make the 50k goal by the end of the month! (God, I hate deadlines. Specially since I can never make them. xP) Well, I'll try, anyway. I shall wirte with **reckless abandon**! Or, is reckless abandon a bad thing? Can't remember. Well, perhaps I shall write with **takoyaki power! **instead. Except that I've never eaten takoyaki. Curses. xD

Is Going To Make Some Octopus Dumplings,

Zana

* * *

**VIII.**

They were both sitting on the ground again, Kagome because she had no where else to sit and Inuyasha because to sit on his cot otherwise would be rude. He was slouched in the corner where the front of his cell met the left wall, his back against the left wall, knees drawn partly up, and arms folded over his chest. Kagome sat indian style directly in front of him on the other side of the cell, her palm-com resting beside her leg, providing just enough light for her to see by. Inuyasha could see better _without_ it, but that was because his night vision was still kicking and the tiny, blue glow contained in within their area was like a glaring beam to him. For Kagome's sake, though, he valiantly ignored this.

If Inuyasha had stopped to think about why he was even helping this human girl, he would have eventually pinned it on her mother, telling himself that it was the least he could for the nurse who had been so kind to him. But the strange thing was, a reason for his actions never crossed his mind. He never thought about why he was trying to help her; he just did it. Perhaps it had nothing to do with owing anyone favors, but something he just wanted to do.

"The lock-down ends at dawn," he was telling her. "You won't be able to get outta here until then."

"But there will be people here by then, won't there?" Kagome sighed, looking downcast. "I'll get caught. Oh my god. What will they do to me? What if I never get out of here? Oh my god, I never thought–no, this can't be happening. What am I going to do?"

"You could stop whining," Inuyasha suggested. Mentally, he winced at the harshness of his words; this whole "being nice" thing was a lot harder than he thought. He tried again. "Look, you did this to yourself. You didn't have to get all curious and come here, but you did anyway, and now you have pay up for your actions. That's how it is, so suck it up and get over it already."

Oh yeah, like _that_ was any better. Maybe he should have stopped while he was ahead. He waited for Kagome to either a) cry, b)explode or c) a combination of both.

Thankfully, however, she chose d) none of the above. In fact, she seemed to be actually _thinking _it over, as if Inuyasha had just given her some really good advice or something. He stared at her in shock when she turned to him and said, "You know, you're absolutely right."

"Uh, I am?" No one had ever told Inuyasha that he was right about anything before, so he wasn't sure if he heard her correctly.

"Yeah," she said, looking like she had just experienced a great revelation. "I brought this among myself. Crying and panicking over it isn't going to change anything, so I might as well not even bother. I'll just have to face the consequences. But you know what? I'm glad I came. Now I know the truth. Whatever happens next, I think it will be worth it."

"You think a few measly truths are worth your life?" he snorted. Kagome's new found confidence melted away like a snowman in the spring; slowly but surely, with no chance of surviving the warming weather, or in this case, Inuyasha's curt remark.

"Y-You really think they'd k-kill m-me?" she stammered out, grasping at the thins straws of her courage which were quickly slipping away.

"Nah," he said casually. "That a be a waste of valuable research material. I heard that the science team was looking for someone to perform a live dissection on, to get a better idea of how the inside of the body works while its ticking, ya know?" He shot her a sidelong glance and saw the color drain from her face, which she was obviously trying to keep straight with declining effort.

In the back of his mind, a tiny voice was scolding him. _'Stop teasing her!'_ it said, growing louder and louder. _'That's not being nice, you retard! What the hell is wrong you? If you can't say anything nice, then don't open your big, stupid mouth at all!'_

Inuyasha had a vague understanding of what a conscience was, and that was that it was a shrewd inner voice that strived to make you do good things, and apparently hoped to accomplish doing so by insulting you. Of course, this definition didn't encompass everyone else's conscience, but he didn't know that. As it were, his conscience was a special case; it had always been so small and nearly nonexistent that on the off chance that Inuyasha did pay some attention to it, it tended to hack up an attitude.

Despite the fact that he and his conscience did not get along, however, Inuyasha found himself admitting, for the first time in his life, that the little, nagging voice might actually have a point. Turning his head to get a full view of Kagome on the other side of the glass, he saw how she was struggling to keep her composure and was losing the battle, so he finally gave in.

"Geez," he said. "You humans really _are _that gullible."

'_That's still not very nice!'_ screamed the little voice. _'You big dummy, you can be nicer than that!'_

"_Shove it,"_ he mentally replied. _"This is as nice as I get."_

"I am not gullible!" Kagome told him, for the second time that day. "I knew you were just saying that to freak me out! It's just that it–"

"–worked?" Inuyasha finished, smirking just a bit to set her off.

"Gah, why do you have to be such a jerk?" she cried, clearly frustrated. "I'm trying to avoid another emotional break down here but you're just egging it on! Make up your freaking mind: do you want me to calm down or go crazy?" She had tried to jab an accusing finger at him while she said this, but of course the cell wall was in the way, so she ended up jabbing glass. Even so, she still looked furious.

"All right, all right, I'm sorry," he said quickly. This wasn't going well, he reflected. For every one step forward, they then took two steps back. It wasn't like he had meant to tease her though. Kagome was just so easy to mess with that he did it without even thinking. But enough was enough. He had to be _nice_, however strange and foreign the concept was to him. The Almighty Conscience demanded it. The thought '_Why_ do I have to be nice to her?' still hadn't run across his mind yet, oddly enough, but this was possibly because Inuyasha already knew why and just had yet to realize it.

Looking at her, Inuyasha knew that under that biting glare, Kagome was still scared and he hadn't helped matters. He knew then that he had to fix this, because he was determined to never see her cry again.

He hated it when she cried. This was partly due to a universal uncomfortableness that all boys feel when they're not used to being around a weeping girl. Emotional females act strange and unpredictable, they believe, and as guys, they don't know how to handle that sort of thing; Inuyasha was no exception. But there was something else about it too. Whenever he heard or saw her crying, one of those weird, new feelings he had been having lately would pop up. It made him feel responsible, somehow, made him want to stop her sadness in whatever way he could. It was normal for most people to not like it when others around them are sad, but this was more than just empathy; Inuyasha actually wanted to _do_ something about it. There was a word for this, he was sure, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Watching Kagome now though, he didn't care about figuring it out. He just wanted to make sure she wouldn't break down again. He had to do something; he didn't want to her to get caught either. He had to help her–but how?

And then it hit him.

"Look Kagome," he said in a serious tone, "You won't get caught."

"I won't?" she said hopefully.

He shook his head. "I know how you can get out in the morning without being seen. Your best bet is to leave as soon as the lock-down ends, since there will less people here while its still early. And there's another way out other than the front doors..."

He described to her as best he could about the alternate way out of the building. Once the lock-down ended, it would be open again, and she could use this "back door" to decrease the chances of anyone seeing her as she left. As long as she was quick and sneaky about it, no one would ever know that she had been here.

"How do you know all this?" Kagome asked as she took mental notes of the escape route.

"Are you kidding? I've been trying to get out of here since day one. I know this place like the back of my hand."

"Then how come," she started, then paused, fumbling over how to word it. Then how come you're still here? Do none of your escape plans work? If you can't get out of here, what makes you think I can? No, those words sounded too mean and pessimistic.

It turned out that she didn't need to ask, however. Inuyasha seemed to know what she was thinking and easily answered, "I'm locked in this cell, most of the time. And when I'm not, then I'm surrounded by Facility staff. And if I do get to any exits, they all have sensors built into them that go off when they detect a demon presence. But you," he said, his eyes flickering to her face, "You won't have to deal with any of that. When the lock-down ends, you can go. There won't be too many people here right away to stop you. And you're human; the sensors won't go off."

"Oh. Okay." Inuyasha seemed so sure of himself about this that Kagome was reassured. There was, however, one little detail that still worried her: what was she going to do until morning? Although she wasn't sure why, she voiced this uncertainty to Inuyasha.

"I suggest you get some sleep," he said. "You'll probably need it."

"Sleep?" she said, staring at him as if he had suggested something totally outrageous. "This place creeps me out enough as it is when I'm awake. I don't think I could fall asleep here even if I wanted to."

"Feh. You'll sleep eventually. You humans need a lot of rest after all and I _know _you're tired."

"Nu-uh," Kagome tried, but she had to stifle a yawn when she spoke. Admittedly, she had been up all day and, despite the efforts her brain was making, her body wanted to take break. A slumber party at an evil, government laboratory wasn't an idea she was too fond of, but Inuyasha was right: sooner or later she was going to fall asleep whether she wanted to or not. Anyways, she had time to kill. "All right, fine," she said. "I'm tired. But where am I supposed to sleep in this place?"

"On the ground, I guess," Inuyasha replied, none too helpfully. "Unless you can find an empty cell around here that isn't locked."

"N-no, that's fine, I can sleep on the ground," she said quickly. "Uh, is it okay if I stay right here though?"

"Do what ya want. I don't care."

"Kay," she sighed and laid herself out on the floor by his cell, feeling awkward and frightened. She kept her palm-com on too. It had been a while since she last slept with a night-light on, but in this case, she probably wouldn't fall asleep without it. Besides, her palm-com had an alarm clock and would wake her up at sunrise.

"Good night," she said quietly.

"Not really." Kagome blinked and flipped over to see Inuyasha still sitting at the front of his cell, looking mildly bored.

"Aren't you going to bed?" she asked. "I'm not keeping you up, am I?"

"Nah. I just don't like sleeping all that much. I'm not tired anyway." For some reason, Kagome looked notably relieved to hear this. But then he remembered: she was scared. Not of him, surprisingly enough, but of everything else. She probably felt better knowing that someone would be watching over her while she slept, although she seemed to be forgetting that Inuyasha was stuck inside his cell and wouldn't be able to do anything, aside from shouting, if something did happen.

A thought occurred to him, and he got up and walked over to his cot. Then he walked back, this time to the door, with something in his hands. "Here. Take this. I know the floor ain't all that comfortable."

Curious, Kagome got up and went to his door, where she noticed that a small portion of had just bars and no glass. Inuyasha poked something through it; it was a grey and flimsy. His blanket, she realized. He was giving her his blanket.

"You don't have–" she started, but Inuyasha immediately cut her off.

"Look, I already told you I'm not going to sleep, so go ahead and take it. Might as well do somebody some good. Well don't just stand there like an idiot! Pull the rest of it out!"

Kagome silently obliged, pulling one end of it out while Inuyasha fed the rest of it through the bars. It was big enough so that she could spread part of it out on the floor and pull the other half of it over her. It was thin and worn, but it was enough to keep her warm and Kagome was grateful for that.

"Thank you," she said, but he didn't reply, just sat down back in his corner by the front wall. Kagome made herself comfortable–or as close as she could get to it–and closed her eyes.

There was silence. Then, after about ten minutes, Kagome whispered, "Inuyasha?"

"What?" he grumbled.

"Nothing," she said contently. Inuyasha gave her a puzzled look, but he couldn't read her face since her back was to him. Several more minutes passed, but he knew Kagome hadn't fallen asleep yet, especially when she said again, "Inuyasha?"

"_What?_"

"Uh. Never mind."

"Feh."

He understood what she was doing now and waited expectantly for her to speak again.

"Um, Inuyasha..?"

"I'm still awake, Kagome," he said readily. "I'll be awake all night, so stop worrying already. Now: Go. To. Sleep."

She sighed, but in a sort of relieved way, and shut her eyes again. Inuyasha stayed in his spot, watching her chest slowly rise up and down and listening to her slower, steady breathing. Finally, it seemed she was asleep, and good riddance. She was a sound sleeper, and didn't snore nor move in her sleep. She did, at one point, mutter something unintelligible to herself, while probably lost in a dream.

Inuyasha kept his word and stayed up the entire night to watch over her. He didn't doze off for even just a little bit. _Hah_, he thought to himself, feeling vaguely proud, _This has gotta be adding major points to my karma. How's that for ya, conscience?_

**--TBC--**

**

* * *

PS: Have a Happy Halloween!**


	5. Part Five

**A/N:** Another shorty, and again, the POV gets a little messy, but what can I say? I'm sleep deprived, hyped up on Halloween candy (which is partly to blame for said sleep deprivation), and I'm having trouble sitting at the computer for long intervals at a time (Again, this _could_ be the candy). But at least I'm getting things done, yeah? YEAH! Woo-hoo, yay, yippe! Pazza. Etc.

I was going to add something else, but I've completely forgotten what it was, so it must not be important. FEH!

CandycandycandycandycandyIlovecandy,

ZANA!

* * *

**IX.**

A repeating beeping noise was coming from the palm-com. Inuyasha watched with interest as Kagome reached over with one arm, slapped the computer shut, bringing the noise to an abrupt halt, and went back to sleep. If she ever was awake to being with, that is. It looked more like her body did that automatically without having to rouse her to consciousness while dong so.

He blinked and waited for a moment, just in case. Kagome went on sleeping. So much for the alarm clock. It was up to him now to wake her.

He grinned. This would be fun.

He crawled from his corner down to where she was laying. Although he was inside his cell, Kagome was curled up right outside, snoozing away. Rocking back on his haunches, he took a deep breath, lowered his head...

...and then roared right in her ear.

Kagome's eyes shot open and she screamed, whipping off the blanket and scrambling to feet, ready to make a run for it. But she didn't move, because she was suddenly caught off guard with the realization that this _wasn't_ her bedroom. She blinked, slowly, and then all of last night's horrible events and discoveries flooded back to her. Whatever had roared at her was still unexplained, however, and fear seeped through her body. She didn't want to turn around and see whatever terrible creature had gotten loose, but she did despite herself...

She fearful gaze instantly became a burning glare as Inuyasha sat on the ground and exploded with laughter.

"You...you asshole!" she shouted, shaking with anger. "You scared me half to death!"

"I'm sorry," he managed to get out in between laughs. Kagome crossed her arms and a gave him a reproachful look. "Okay, no I'm not," he admitted cheerfully, but his laughing began to ebb away as Kagome continued to glare at him.

He swallowed the last of his giggles and stood up, so that they were eye level. "Hey, don't look at me like that. I was doing you a favor."

"Oh, really?" she snarled.

"Yeah, _really_. You didn't get up when your alarm went off."

"So you took the liberty of yelling in my ear and scaring the shit out of me? Gee, thanks a lot Inuyasha."

"Anytime kid," he said, that smug grin of his unrelenting. Kagome, who was practically steaming with frustration, opened her mouth to retort but then thought better of it. There was no time to fight with Inuyasha; she had to leave before anyone saw her here. She inhaled, silently counted to ten, then exhaled. Now that she was cooled down, she took stock of her surroundings. The lights were back on, shining dimly, but since there were no windows or openings to the outside world, it was impossible to tell whether it was day or night. She had to check her palm-com to confirm that it was six in the morning. No one was there yet, or at least not in the area. But they would be soon. She had to get a move on.

"Here," she picked up Inuyasha's blanket and pushed it through the bars. He pulled it the rest of the way through and tossed it carelessly back on his cot. Remembering that he had given her his blanket and stayed up all night for her, Kagome could no longer be mad at him for the crude wake up call she received. He was a jerk, sure, but he was a _nice _jerk. Not like that made any sense, but she had already given up on anything making sense anyway.

Kagome wished there was something she could do for him. While she was picking up her things and putting them back in her bag, she was struck with an idea and pulled out her mother's ID card and strand of hair. It was so obvious; why hadn't she thought of it earlier? Going to the com-lock on Inuyasha's door, she grinned at him and said, "Let's blow this joint."

Inuyasha frowned, but Kagome didn't see as she was swiping the card, entering the code, and then shoving the piece of her mother's hair through the DNA scanner. She stared fixedly at the little computer screen and waited to hear a tiny click of the door.

Instead, she was greeted with some familiar words: 'Access Denied'.

She looked up at Inuyasha apologetically, but he just shrugged, looking indifferent. "If it was that easy, I would have asked you to unlock the door earlier," he said. "Your mom was transferred to a different section. Her card can't open any of these cells anymore without an override. Thanks for trying though."

"I _will _get you out of here," Kagome said determinedly. "I'll get everyone out of here, somehow. They have no right to keep you locked up like this, just because you're demons. It's not right."

"Look, Kagome," Inuyasha said, suddenly serious and somber. "Don't."

"Huh?"

"Don't get yourself involved," he said. "There's nothing you can do. You'll only get in trouble, and for what?"

"But–" she tried.

"Listen to me," he growled. "You don't know what you're getting yourself into! This isn't just some minor injustice you can fix by telling the cops or sending a letter to your statesman! The Facility is backed by the government. They know; they're the ones pulling the strings. They're more powerful than you know, and if you try to interfere, they'll make sure you're stopped, and they won't care how. You know something you're not supposed to, and you know what they say: the best kind of person to keep a secret is a dead one."

"I'm not scared of them," Kagome lied. "The government can try, but they won't keep me down."

"Well, aren't you brave," he said sarcastically. "So you don't fear for yourself? What about your family?"

"W-What do you mean?"

"Think about it," said Inuyasha. "You're mom _works _here. And does she really seem like the kind of person who would help a place like this? Do you think she enjoys it? No, of course not. In fact, I'm sure she feels the exact same way you do. But then why she does work here? Why doesn't she tell someone? Simple: she can't. She's probably being watched, maybe threatened. And if she's not scared for herself, then she is scared for _someone._"

Inuyasha was right. He absolutely right, and Kagome felt awful. When she had discovered the truth the night before, she wondered angrily to herself, _Why did mom lie to me? Why would she do this?_ She had felt betrayed, as if her mother was in cahoots with these guys. That was nonsense, of course. Kagome's mother wouldn't hurt a fly, and quite literally; whenever a bug got in their house, she was known to scoop it up in her hands and release it back outside. So Kagome then asked herself, _Why hasn't she tried to stop this?_ And now Kagome knew: she couldn't. Inuyasha had a point. A big one.

And if her mother couldn't do anything about it, what could Kagome do?

She could try.

"Kagome, just go, don't come back, don't tell anyone, and forget all about this place, all right?" said Inuyasha. He would never admit it aloud, but _he_ was scared for her. "It's better this way."

"Is it? Is it better for _you_?" she said, starting to get riled up. She gestured to the other cells along the walls. "Is it better for _them?_"

"Fine! Don't listen to me. Do whatever the hell you want. Just remember," he said, lowering his voice, "If you decide to get involved in this, there's no turning back."

"I know," she said quietly. "I don't care."

"You're so..." he began, about to say 'stupid', but he stopped himself. Regardless of what Kagome said or what she wanted to do, this could be–and probably would be–the last time they would ever see each other. And even though in his mind he repeatedly told himself he didn't give a damn, for some reason he still found himself not wanting Kagome's last memory of him to be a bad one. And he didn't want the last thing he'd ever say to her be "You're so stupid" either.

A sweeper droid buzzed by, and they both turned their heads to watch roll down the hall. Inuyasha looked back at Kagome and said, "You better go now."

"Yeah," she sighed. She turned to go, but lingered at the edge of his cell. "But, uh...won't the others see me? The other prisoners, I mean."

"Nah, most of 'em should still be sleeping. I guess you didn't notice how no one woke up during all that yelling you did last night. The staff gives them heavy duty sedatives before bed, to keep 'em down until the morning crew gets here."

"But not you?" she asked.

"There ain't a sedative in the world strong enough to take me out," he said, almost defensively. Kagome was willing to bet there was, but she kept this to herself.

"Right. Well...see you later, Inuyasha." With one final glance his way, she turned and took off down the following, hurrying to catch up with the cleaning bot.

Inuyasha watched her go and quickly disappear down the long track of hall. Even then, he continued standing there, until finally, even her wonderful scent was gone. Then he silently walked back to his cot and took up his usual position there: lying on his back, hands behind his head, staring up at the empty ceiling.

What a night. He was tired, but not in a sleepy way. So much had happened, and in so little time; he wasn't used to that. He wasn't used to any of this. A strange human girl had barged in and disrupted his life; it was no wonder he was feeling weird. Although, to be honest, he found that he didn't mind.

_See you later, Inuyasha... _

He wondered if she really meant that, that she would see him later. But, no, it was probably just your average good-bye, a casual farewell. Nothing to get your hopes up for. _Not that I want to see her again,_ he thought stubbornly. Which was a lie, naturally, but he wasn't going to admit that, not even to himself. Inuyasha was currently undergoing a little thing called 'denial'.

It seemed that whenever it came to Kagome, his inner emotions went to war with each other. A part of him, the big part of him that he was so desperately trying to ignore at the time, really wanted to see Kagome again. And not just every now and then; he wanted to see her everyday. He wanted to _be_ with her everyday. He never wanted her out of his sight.

But then another part of him rallied against this. She was just a silly human girl getting in way over her head, with her foolish ideas and misguided attempts to help. It was a nice gesture, sure, but she didn't have a clue about what she was doing, how much trouble she getting into. If he ever saw Kagome again, he knew nothing good would come of it. To want to see her would be selfish of him.

Maybe he didn't even need to worry. After all humans, in Inuyasha's opinion, were generally cowards who cared mostly about themselves. Kagome might have not fit that description very well, but she was still human; she couldn't be too different from the rest. She might make her plans and try a few things, but after a while, Inuyasha believed that she would probably get tired of it, give up, and get on with her life. It probably wouldn't be too difficult; something like school, her friends, or almost anything in the outside world, would steal away her attention and return her to her normal routine. She would easily forget all about Inuyasha and the Facility.

Which was for the best, he reminded himself with stubborn determination. He should forget about her too. It was for the best.

_Ha, good luck with that one,_ sneered the tiny voice inside his mind. Inuyasha told it to kindly shut the hell up, then flipped over on his side so he could now stare at the wall. It was grey and plain, just the like the ceiling, and not to mention everything else in that place.

Maybe if he stared at it long enough, he could burn a hole into it. It beat thinking hopelessly about Kagome.

**--TBC--

* * *

**

**(Omake React!)(The part where Inuyasha was doing Kagome a favor...)**

**Kagome: **O rly???

**Inuyasha:** ya rly!

**Kagome:** no wai!!1

**Inuyasha: **omfgstfu! xO

**(Fini)**


	6. Part Six

**A/N: **Hell yeah, I'm a on a roll today! The story is now offically half-way over! I think! Erm, well, it's speeding up anyway. Yes, yes, they're still in the Facility, but three-fourths of the story just so happens to take place there. That's just the way it is. And _will_ Inuyasha ever get out of there? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe Kagome will bust 'im out and they'll escape together to sunny Mexico! _Or _maybe the bad guys will catch them, fire a bomb, and blow them all to hell. u.u I dunno. Actually, I do know, but I'm not going to tell you. That's right! I'm going to leave you hanging! I'm going to make you wait! And I'm going to lord it over you! _I know and you don't! And I'm not telling! _Muahahahahaha! Oh, the perks of being the author.

Yes, I'm evil like that. Muhahaha.

Haha. Yeah.

Staying Up Past My Bed Time To Laugh Evilly At People,

The Evil Overlord Zana

PS-- Hahahahaha!

* * *

**X.**

The little sweeper bot zoomed its way down the long stretch of hall, cleaning the already spotless floor as it rolled by. Not to far behind it was Kagome, walking at a fast pace in order to keep up. Hey eyes couldn't help but to stray to the many cells that dotted the walls, feeling a mixture of pity and fear as she strode by the sleeping demons.

When she was beginning to think that the hall would never come to an end, the droid she was following screeched to a halt and turned to face a blank section of the wall. Kagome came up directly behind it and waited. A small red light blinked on the droid, activating the door. Looking at the wall beforehand, you would have never noticed it; it was seamless. But now a part of the wall was sliding open, making way for the cleaning bot. It rolled on in, with Kagome following quickly after it. Since the maintenance robots were only three feet tall, Kagome had to move on her hands and knees to get through the passageway. The door in the wall sild silently shut behind her.

It was dark and small, arousing feelings of claustrophobia, but Kagome tried not to think of it. She had to keep up with the droid; although the passage was straight and narrow, the door at the end would only open when it detected the droid nearby. If she fell behind, she wouldn't be able to get out until another droid came in, and even then there would be problems, because Kagome was blocking the way. She hated to think what would happen if she got stuck in here.

The sweeper bot came to a stop at what appeared to be a dead end, and again there was a short blink of red light. The wall slid open, and Kagome crawled as fast as she could, throwing herself through the opening before it could shut on her. She just barely made it through and crashed into the droid on the other side.

It skittered and veered to the side, then righted itself. Kagome pulled herself off the ground and watched as the little machine rolled on into the big room and parked itself in a long, perfect row of other droids on standby. This was the storage room, where all the robots and machinery that weren't currently in use were kept and charged. It was just as Inuyasha described: large and empty, save for the rows of shut off machines. There were several other sliding doors for the droids to enter by, but you had to look for them to spot one. There were two normal, human sized doors on the opposite wall: one that lead to a control room, and another that lead back into the main Facility building. But Kagome couldn't go that way, for fear of being seen. She instead turned to the far left wall, which contained something like an old fashioned garage door. It lead directly outside, according to Inuyasha, to the docking yard in the back. This entrance was used to unload the bigger machines into the storage room.

The sound of her sneakers tapping against the tiled floor as she made her way across the vast room was the only noise to be heard. When she made it to the large, rectangular door, she searched for its com-lock, her mother's ID card ready in hand. She hoped it wouldn't fail as it did before, but she didn't worry too much about it. They might have changed it so it couldn't open the cell doors, but it seemed to be enough to get through the general doors. Punching in the now memorized code number and sliding the card through the slot, Kagome waited and, sure enough, the big door lifted open. It was slow and creaky as folded upwards, an older model that obviously didn't get much use. It sounded painfully loud to Kagome, but nobody came running and she was able to exit without any hassle. The big door rolled back down and slammed shut as Kagome walked outside.

She threw the ID card back in her bag, making a mental note to replace it as soon as possible when she got home; her mom had to work today and Kagome didn't want to explain why it was in her possession if she arrived late. Then, tossing her bag back over her shoulder, she set out.

The docking yard was behind the cluster of buildings that made up of the Facility, and was enclosed by a wired fence, no less. When Kagome had snuck in the previous night, she had done from the front, going right through the main doors. Getting out from this side would be tricky, but as Inuyasha had predicted, no one else was there yet. She felt her confidence rise: she could make it out.

She was worried about the fence. It wasn't very high, and she could easily climb it, no problem. But she didn't know what kind of fence it was. If she touched it, would she be electrocuted? Would alarms go off? Would the wires shoot out and tie about her, holding her prisoner until security came and took her away? With technology these days, fences did a lot more than just keep people out. There was a gate, of course, but that would take her to the front of the Facility, where she would surely be seen. There was no way around it: she had to over the fence.

Kagome stepped forward, shut her eyes, and gingerly pressed a finger to fence. As soon as her skin touched the cold metal, she jerked back. She hadn't been zapped upon contact, so that was a promising sign. She waited to see if anything else might happen. Nothing did.

Surprised at the lack of response from the fence, Kagome took a closer look at it. It looked menacing, with barbed wire lining the top, but she also noticed how rusted and worn it was. It reminded her of the huge, old door she had taken to get out here. Overall, the dock yard seemed to be a little out-dated. Perhaps they didn't use it anymore.

So it was just a plain, old fence then. It must have been her lucky day. Kagome approached the fence once more, now fearless, and climbed her way up. Getting over the spikey top was a bit difficult, but she somehow managed, walking away with only a few pricks on her hands and a tear on the sleeve of her shirt. Once she was just a few feet up, she let go of the fence and dropped to the ground, making a shaky landing on her feet.

She was out.

Before her was a cracked, grey sideway, running alongside a black, crater-filled street that hadn't been used for centuries since the invention of the hovercar. The once proud skyscrapers that surrounded the area were now small and crumbling. Like in the dock yard, there was no noise and no people. This was definitely the old part of the city, the abandoned slums of Lenear. It was no wonder the Facility was back here; they wouldn't have to worry about anyone snooping around or getting suspicious, since no one came here anymore. That is, no one except Kagome.

The walk back to the main part of Lenear wasn't far, she knew, since that's the way she came, and she once got there, she could take a shuttle for the rest of the way. Checking the time on her palm-com, she was relieved to know that she would make it home in time, before the rest of her family woke up. No one would know that she had ever been here, no one would know that she had ever been gone.

Before setting off, Kagome turned around to take one last look at the Facility. It loomed silently in its dark little corner, looking just as monstrous in the day as it did at night. Inside is grey walls, a hundred or so innocent demons were being held against their will, including a dog-eared halfling called Inuyasha, whom Kagome for some reason couldn't stop thinking about.

As she turned and walked away, Kagome knew with the utmost certainty that this wouldn't be the last time she saw this place.

**XI. **

And it wasn't.

Days had passed since that unexpected meeting with the human girl, and for Inuyasha, things returned to normal, which was basically another way of saying "a living hell". He tried to simply forget about her, but since he had little else that was pleasant to remember, this plan was highly unsuccessful.

He wanted to see her again. He didn't know why, nor did he wonder why; he just did. At the same time, he understood that if he didn't see her again, she would be safe. It was just like he told her: her coming here would only bring trouble. Maybe she had listened to him after all and decided to be a smart girl and stay away.

Right. And maybe Inuyasha really was the King of Tharris.

No one ever listened to him.

Stupid Kagome came back.

When everyone but the lethargic night guard had left, Inuyasha heard foot-steps coming from down the hall, soon followed by a familiar scent. The girl had come prepared this time; she knew exactly what she was doing and went straight for Inuyasha's cell. He was excited and anger all at the same time and all for the same reason: she had come back. There was a brief moment were Inuyasha yelled at her for being stupid, followed by Kagome yelling back, and a short but bitter argument ensued between the two of them.

But neither really felt like fighting, so they simply ceased doing so. Kagome explained that she came back to gather more information, get more details, and explore the Facility a little further. She said that if she was going to go up against the government, she needed to have all her facts straight, tons of evidence, a solid backing, and (most importantly) a flawless plan that would draw all of these things together.

Nothing he said could change her mind. She was determined to do something, to help in whatever way she could. She even mentioned that she messaged her friend in Reem about making something that could override com-locks, so that she could unlock everyone's cells.

"Why are you so hell bent on doing this?" he asked her.

She looked up from what she was doing and said simply, "You don't need a reason to help someone, Inuyasha. Sometimes you just do something because it needs being done."

"Yeah, but no one said _you_ had to do it."

"If not me, then who? Look, let's not argue again, please? Now, can you tell me any of scientists' names..?"

And that's how it went. Kagome would come visit him at night–not every night, nor in any specific pattern, but just whenever she could–and continue her investigation. Despite what she had said, she never actually went to any other parts of the buildings–Inuyasha suspected this was because she was still too frightened. In fact, she hardly ever strayed from his cell. He was the only one who was ever awake and was friendly (enough). She would occasionally inspect the other cells and their inhabitants, but she relied mostly on Inuyasha for any information regarding such matters. They would sit across from each other, separated by the glass cell wall, and discuss their plans. (Or rather, Kagome would describe one of her ideas, and then Inuyasha would point out everything that was wrong about it.) Sometimes, and this was becoming more and more common each night, they would have other conversations, ones that had noting to do with the Facility at all, but of anything else. Kagome would tell him about her day, the things she'd seen, what happened at school, what was going on in the outside world...normal things from a normal life. Inuyasha longed for such a life, and thus loved these precious conversations he had with his new and only friend. One night, she even brought with her a tiny, pocket-sized device that played audio flies. They sat together listening to Kagome's favorite band, Shattering Silence, for the entire night. It had been the first time in seven years that Inuyasha had heard music, and he was awe struck by it.

Every night that she came, Kagome made sure to set her palm-com to alert her when one o'clock was drawing near, so she could leave before lock-down. Only once, while deep in conversation with Inuyasha, did she get trapped inside again. They repeated the procedure from last time, only without all the panic. She didn't even seem all that upset.

A month had passed, and nothing really changed, except for Kagome's nightly visits. She still didn't have a plan yet, but Inuyasha didn't care. No part of him was really depending on Kagome to get him out of there; he just liked seeing her, and that was enough. He even stopped trying to escape on his own less and less because, in his sub-conscious, he was worried that if he did break out, Kagome would come that night and he wouldn't be there to see her.

Something was happening to him. It was nothing major; he was still the same stubborn, grouchy, angry Inuyasha. But he wasn't as stubborn or grouchy or angry as before. It was a subtle change, but even the Facility staff was starting to notice. He would go through his tests and experiments grudgingly, yes, but they didn't seem to be bringing him down as much as they used to. His pouting and grumbling lessened. The dead glint in his eyes was gone. It was a small, simple change really, but an important one.

He had hope again.

Not hope that he would one day escape, exactly. Just hope in life in general. Kagome had given him something to look forward to, something that made life worth living for. His life was painful, in shambles, taken over by others, but whenever he got to see Kagome, all the horrible things he had to go through that day were so easily forgotten and tossed aside.It was Kagome who had returned his hope, and it grew brighter and brighter every time they met.

But along with this hope came worry. Worry that it would be taken away. Worry that something would go wrong, because in Inuyasha's experience, something _always_ went wrong. He worried for Kagome. She snuck in and out of the Facility on a weekly basis and never got caught. And how was that possible? It was _too_ easy. They had to know that someone was entering the holding cells at late hours, that someone was messing with the cameras...or if they didn't know it yet, they would soon. Kagome and Inuyasha would make mistake eventually, and the Facility staff would find out. And then something bad would happen.

What could be done? He had warned her not to get involved, but it was too late now. Kagome had made up her mind and she wasn't going to be persuaded otherwise. And, as much as he hated to admit, even if just to himself, Inuyasha had grown attached to her. He felt happy when she came and disappointed when she didn't. And the worst part was, he could never stop thinking about her. It made him feel strange and powerless when he wasn't in control over his own emotions anymore.

What could he do, but hope and worry?

**--TBC--**

* * *

**A/N: **Okay, fine, I'll give you a hint: foreshadowing, FORESHADOWING! Context clues, gotta luv 'em.

I think that last section was little bit cheesy at times, but what good romance doesn't have some cheese in it? I mean, look at _Romeo & Juilet. _It's hailed as the greatest love story of all time and it's the cheesiest thing I've ever read!

Except let's not use that one as an example, because I _hated _that play. Two teenagers meet each other at a party, make out, have sex, get married, fall in love, meet secretly, and ultimately commit suicide, and all in the course of two days. (But not necessarily in that order.) I mean, come on! Wft is up with that?

But I digress. In fact, I digress a lot, don't I? Sorry. Some people are addicted to gambling, I'm addicted to rambling. But I'll stop now and spare you all from suffering.

Has Already Done An Author's Note This Chapter And Apologizes For Doing Another,

Zana xD


	7. Part, um, what number comes after six?

**Author's Note:** (I spelled it out this time! n.n)

Okay, this chapter might be a bit a weird. Ironically, this is because I wrote most of it while being sleep deprived myself. I'm trying not to pass out over my key board as I type. xD Thing is, I'm really trying to get this all finished up before Monday, because that's when I'm starting my Nano project, whether this story is done or not. And I'd rather get this done first; one less thing to worry about.

I don't think it's gonna happen though. D: It'll take more than one day to finish it...guh. SOrries. I'm trying, but you know...

Okay, no more talking. I'm done now. Read this chapter, be happy, enjoy life. Have a nice day!

Ish Going To Bed Now (Thank God),

Zzzzz...Zana

* * *

**XII. **

No. He couldn't be. It wasn't true.

He couldn't be dead.

Kagome's heart was beating wildly, threatening to beat right out of her chest and she suddenly felt her legs go weak, causing her to sag against the cell wall for support as she stared inside it.

Inuyasha would always wait for her right by the glass, every night without fail. But not tonight. No half-smile or rolling eyes or snide comments greeted her this time when she made her way to his cell. He always knew when she was coming; he could smell her. But tonight, she was greeted only with a heavy silence.

She knew immediately that something was wrong. Pressing her face to the glass, she peered into his cell and her eyes fell upon a stiff, still figure laying on the bed in the corner, a white sheet draped over it. Her heart skipped a beat and her mind automatically assumed the worst.

"Oh my god..." The vision before her blurred as tears welled in her eyes. "In..Inuyasha..."

"What?"

Kagome jerked her head up with a start and she stared with wide eyes as Inuyasha sat up in his cot, the bed sheet falling off his face, which looked mildly annoyed. But when he turned and saw who it was, his face split into a sleepy smile.

"Oh," he said, looking at her through half-lidded eyes. "Hey Kagome."

"You...you're alive?" she said, her voice barely a whisper.

Inuyasha blinked at her. "I better be. Hey..." he squinted his eyes at her. "What's wrong? What are you crying about this time?"

Kagome wiped furiously at her eyes and yelled, "You're such a jerk! Why would you scare me like that? It's not funny!"

"What the hell are you talking about? I wasn't trying to scare anyone," he grumbled. "Geez, can't a guy get some shut eye around here without crazy girls yelling at them for no reason?"

Inside, she swelled with relief that he was okay. Maybe she _had_ jumped to conclusions. She realized now that it had been a rather silly idea and that if she had stopped to think it over beforehand, she would have seen this and saved herself the heart-stopping panic. Even so, she still intended to take her mistake out on Inuyasha. It was still his fault, in her opinion, that made her all worried in the first place.

"What kind of idiot sleeps with a blanket over his head?" she shouted angerily and making a very good point in her defense.

"The light was getting in my face," he told her. "I can't sleep like that."

"And since when do you...sleep..." Kagome's voice trailed off as she finally stopped yelling and got a good look at Inuyasha. Something strange was going on here. The first thing she noticed, right off the bat, was that something was missing...his dog ears weren't there. Instead, two normal, human ears took their place on the side of his head.

After she spotted this oddity, everything else that was different became clearly obvious. He had squinted at her–normally, Inuyasha's eye sight was perfect, and he could even see in the dark. Kagome figured that he hadn't smelled her coming either, which would explained why he hadn't expected her. And his hair...it was no longer silver, but the very same dark black as her own. And if she had been a little closer to him, Kagome would have also seen that his teeth and nails were not as sharp as usually were.

"What did they do to you?" she asked him in hushed tones.

Inuyasha wasn't sure what she was talking about until he noticed the strange stare she was giving him, as if he had sprouted wings from his nostrils or something. He absently grabbed a strand of hair in between his fingers and pulled it in front of his face, looking at the black locks with disdain."Oh, yeah, this," he said, as if he had just remembered. "No one did this to me; it happens on its own. Once every month. It's because of my human blood or something."

"Oh." That's right, she thought, Inuyasha is a halfling. Although Kagome hadn't known halflings changed like that. When it really came down to it, she didn't know much about halflings or demons at all. And before she came to the Facility, she had barely even _seen_ more than a few demons throughout her entire life. It made her feel strange that there was so much she didn't know, as if a huge chunk of reality had been kept secret from her.

So. This was what Inuyasha looked as a human. It was an interesting sight, but the thing that Kagome found the strangest wasn't his normal ears or black hair, but tiredness shown on his face and the fact that she had discovered him sleeping on his cot for once. From what she knew, Inuyasha was mostly nocturnal, and only slept in brief, separated periods during the day. She wasn't sure why, but he obviously loathed sleeping and was good at avoiding it. He had never looked tired to her before, but tonight he was positively exhausted and was struggling just to keep his eyes open.

After a little thought, Kagome had deduced why. "They've been keeping you busy today, right, because you're in your human form?"

"Yup," he said, stifling a yawn. "Been going through tests since early this morning. Drew some blood, ran an obstacle course, did a couple simulations, had a physical evaluation, then a mental evaluation..." he ticked them off on his fingers and stopped when he promptly ran out. "Lots of shit," he said bluntly. "They always get so fucking excited, 'cos it happens just once a month, you know? And they just _gotta_ compare and contrast my fucking human form to my normal form, even though they've done it a gazillion fucking times in the last seven fucking years and the results are always the fucking same: my human form is weaker. Well, no fucking duh!"

Yes, he was most definitely tired, Kagome decided. For one thing, he just dropped the F-bomb about a half a dozen times in just three sentences. Not that Inuyasha never cussed, because he did, and often. But not every other word. And there was the fact that he was now sitting up in his bed, looking slowly about the cell with dazed expression on his face, as if he wasn't exactly sure where he was or what he had just been doing, but could possibly remember if he kept his eyes open for long enough.

"Bunch of dumbasses..." he eventually mumbled to himself, but Kagome wasn't quite sure if he was talking about the Facility people or someone else. He turned and looked at her again and mumbled, "Oh, hey Kagome."

She smiled and shook her head. "Okay, you obviously need to get some sleep. I should probably go so you can rest."

"No, wait," he said, untangling himself from his blanket and getting up off the bed. "Don't go. I slept enough before you got here. See? I'm wide a-waaaaahh-ke now."

"No you're not," she said. "You just yawned."

"That's just because of a oxygen of lack," he tried, but obviously it proved Kagome's point more than his.

"Go back to bed. You look about ready to fall over."

"M'not tired," he said stubbornly. He did, however, slump back onto his cot despite his efforts. Kagome bit back a laugh; Inuyasha reminded her a lot of her little brother whenever he attempted to stay up past is bedtime. It was flattering, she supposed, that he wanted to stay up so he could talk to her, but he couldn't even keep his eyes open.

"Please go to sleep."

"Can't see you if I sleep," he protested, but he laid back down on his cot and pulled up the thin covers. His half-lidded eyes didn't leave her though.

"I'll come back," she said. "It's no big deal. We can see each other another time."

"But what if we can't?" he mumbled, his voice barely audible as the Sandman crept upon him. "What if this is it? Something bad'll happen, ya know. Sooner or later..."

"Don't be such a pessimist!" she scolded, not liking the unpleasant turn their conversation had taken. She didn't like hearing her worries voiced, especially by someone other than herself. "Just close your eyes and go to sleep, Inuyasha."

"Sleep. Feh. What a waste of time. I don't need no sleep."

"Inuyasha," she said, in a motherly warning tone.

"M'not tired," he said one more time.

Then his eyes finally closed, and he fell asleep.

**XIII.**

She had stayed by his cell and watched him sleep for a few minutes, as her earlier fright was still lingering in her mind. But he was fine and she needed to go. Kagome definitely did not want to spend the night in lock-down without Inuyasha to talk to and watch over her. So she whispered good night, and he quietly snored in reply.

She walked softly down the now familiar hallway. Usually, she kept to the middle, so she would see less of the insides of the passing cells. But tonight, as she was lost in her thoughts and not paying attention, she veered off slightly towards the left. Kagome didn't even realize that she was walking alongside a row of cells until a tiny voice called out to her.

"Mama?"

She stopped dead in her tracks and turned to the face the nearest cell, from which the voice had came. Inside, a little kitsune boy stood in the middle of the floor and stared up at her.

Kagome felt a stab of pain in her heart as she looked back down at him. He was so young–just a little kid! But there he was, locked inside a glass cell, wearing a grey uniform similar to Inuyasha's, except his must have had a hole in the back for his bushy fox tail. He was little kid, yes, but a demon, and that's what counted in here. He was so young and so small, but they didn't care. He was still a prisoner. Kagome felt her eyes well up again.

It wasn't fair.

"Where's mama and papa?" the little kit asked. He looked at her curiously, but Kagome noticed that he also seemed only half-awake, and she remembered what Inuyasha had told her about the Facility staff giving most of the subjects sedatives at night. Or maybe he had had a "busy day" like Inuyasha had, and was simply tired. Either way, the kid wasn't entirely awake. When Kagome didn't answer him, he asked, "Who are you?"

She lowered herself so that they were eye level. "I'm Kagome," she told him, fighting back tears. "W-what's your name?"

"Shippo," he mumbled, and then yawned. "Are you making me go somewhere?" he asked.

Not entirely sure what he was talking about, Kagome told him no.

"Oh, that's good," he told her with a groggy smile. "That means it's still night and I'm still sleeping then. I like the nighttime. Although I kinda wish it were morning, 'cos then it be breakfast time."

"Are you hungry?" she asked uncertainly. It was awkward trying to have a conversion with people who were only half-awake, and it was especially hard with Shippo, who seemed to think that he was still asleep to begin with. Kagome, with no other idea of what to do, reached into her ever-present bag and dug out a wrapped chocolate malted milk ball that she had put in there earlier for a snack. Tossing the wrapper back in her bag, she got up and stood in front of Shippo's cell door, where the only opening was.

"Here," she said, and dropped the small chocolate ball into his hands. He looked at it strangely through glassy, half-open eyes.

"What is it?" he inquired, rolling it in his fingers.

"You eat it," Kagome explained, slightly dumbfounded by the question. "Haven't you ever had candy before?"

"Candy?" he echoed thoughtfully. "I think mama gave me a candy once. But that was a long time ago..." Without further concern, he popped the chocolate into his mouth and chewed. For a brief moment, his eyes widened and looked slightly more awake as a delighted smile spread across his face. He beamed up at Kagome. "Hey, that was good. Wow. I wish I had dreams like this more often."

"Dreams?" Kagome said, with a slight frown.

Shippo returned to his lethargic state. "Yeah," he muttered. "I am dreaming, right? I gotta be, 'cos they haven't taken me anywhere. 'Cos it's night. And if it's night, then I'm sleeping. Besides, good things only happen in your dreams. And you're a human, right?"

"Yeah, but...what do you mean by that?

"Well, that just proves I'm a dreaming," he explained conversationally. "'Cos you're too nice, and when you're not dreaming, humans aren't nice like that."

Kagome didn't know what to say. She stood silently and didn't bother fighting back her tears. Shippo, oblivious to his own semi-consciousness, curled up on the ground and closed his eyes, looking peaceful.

"I like this dream, mama," he sighed happily before going back to sleep.

Kagome's mind was still a dreadful blank and the soft, quiet tears ran down her face without sign of stopping. She didn't know how long she stood there like that. She didn't even seem aware of the time until her palm-com started vibrating madly in her bad, alerting her that it was almost one o'clock and nearing the start of the lock-down.

With one last glance at the sleeping kitsune, Kagome turned and fled.

* * *

**(Q&A)**

**_Tiffany, one of the reviewers, asked:_ **What kind of tests do they put Inuyasha through?

**_The answer, Tiffany:_ **Really hard ones! Let's take a look-see...

**Scientist: **Here's the test. It's mutliple choice. Remember to fill in the bubbles completely...

**Inuyasha: **"In what year did the French Revolution begin?" Feh, that's an easy one. -marks A- Okay, "Which biome covers the largest surface area?" Umm, I think that's B. Hmm.

"Which of he following postulates confirms that segment AB is congruent to segment CD?" Damn, I always forget my postulates...uh, let's go with D.

_Some ten hours later..._

**Inuyasha: **Here! I finished!

**Scientist: **Well, what a surprise! It looks like you got all of the answers correct!

**Inuyasha: **Really? HOT DOG!

**Scientist: **However, you used a pen on your scantron sheet instead of a number two pencil, so you get a BIG FAT ZERO. You fail the quarter.

**Inuyasha: **NUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!

**_Oh, wait, nevermind. It appears I have somehow gotten the Facility mixed up with school. Oh well, there's not much of a difference! xD_**


	8. Part, hey wait! THIS AIN'T A CHAPTER!

**This So-Called Chapter Is Actually An Author's Note(?!):**

**Well, I hate to say it folks, but it looks like this little ficcy's gonna be put on hold for a while.**

It's Monday and I have failed to complete this story. (Surprise-surprise!) I can no longer hold off Nano; I'm already five days behind. So, what does this mean? Nothing major: I just won't have any updates for this story until **December.** You can wait a month, right? ; Sorry to leave you all hanging like this, but have no fear: I will resume writing this fanfic once November ends. There's only a few chapters left, too. No worries, yeah?

To make it up to you, I have decided to give you all a little sneak peek at what's to come.

**BUT FIRST!**

**A really long disclaimer: **While I do have the story entirely planned out, the following previews have NOT actually been written out yet in their entirety. (Otherwise this fic would be completed, yeah?) What this means: they are subject to change and have been abridged. Also, please note that none of the following will give away any vital plot points nor will they tell you how the story ends. (I have evilly left that one out. Ha-ha.) Also-also, while they do go in chronological order, each preview does not represent a future chapter, but rather, just a part of the story yet to come. Also-also-also, _don't take the last one seriously._

**PrEvIeWs YaY!:**

**

* * *

**

"Just you wait," she growled. "I _will_ disable this stupid thing. And when I do, I am going to come in there and personally strangle you."

She made a mental note to strangle Miroku too, if she ever saw him in person again. She looked down in her hands at the "Electronic Lockpick" he had sent her per request, which was now broken and persisted on making an annoying buzzing noise to prove it. It was a just a proto-type, not even tested yet, but Miroku swore by all the deities believed in by man (and even a few he made up) that it was perfectly fool-proof and most assuredly safe.

If any of those deities actually existed, Miroku was going to burn in hell.

* * *

It had been almost two weeks now and there was still no sign of Kagome. 

At first, this had put Inuyasha in a foul mood. Seeing Kagome was the highlight of his day, but lately, the only thing he really had to look forward to was lunch and whether or not it would be noodles. He felt as if he had been ditched, forgotten, abandoned even. You don't promise to help someone and then leave them to fry. How could Kagome do such a thing?

And that's when he really started to think about it. Because, first of all, Kagome _wouldn't_ do such a thing. It wasn't like her at all. So then, where was she? Why hadn't she come in so long? Inuyasha was begining to worry himself sick. _Did something bad happen to Kagome?_

And_ that's_ when he remembered something. Their last meeting, as he now painfully recalled, hadn't gone so well. There was a lot of arguing involved, but he still couldn't quite remember over what it was. Just that it was bad. What was it he called her again? Oh, yes, that's right: a stupid, crazy-ass broad without a single functional brain cell in her big, empty head.

Looking at it that way, Kagome's absence suddenly made a lot more sense...

* * *

"If she felt anything for you, it was pity," he said, vemon dripping from his voice. There was a reflection of cruel amusement in those cold eyes. His cool and stolid posture never faltered, but he was clearly enjoying this. "After all, Inuyasha...you are just a _poor_..._dumb_..._animal_." 

"I, too, pity you," he continued. "That is why I have decided to give you a gift: the escape from this place that you so dearly desire. Yes, Inuyasha. In return for your seven years of service here, I am allowing you the gift of _death_. The final escape, to end all your suffering. You see? Am I not a generous man? Your body will even be donated to science afterwards, so nothing shall go to waste. Ah, now, there's no need to thank me. Believe me: _the pleasure is all mine."_

_

* * *

_

Kagome suddenly became immobile, frozen in place as she stared unblinkingly at the screen as it replayed the footage again and again. She didn't even notice as the bag of groceries slipped from her arms and spilled to the ground.

"Sis? Are you okay?" Souta asked worriedly, tugging at her sleeve. His voice broke her out of her retrieve and reality came rushing back. Kagome blinked and then suddenly started picking up their groceries, throwing them back into the bag in a hurried manner.

"I just remembered, Souta, there's somewhere I gotta go," she said in a rush, thrusting the bag into his arms. "Go straight home and tell mom I'm at a friend's house, okaythanksseeyoulater!"

"W-wait! Sis! What's going on?" he called after her, but Kagome was speeding down the road like a track star, already too far away to hear him.

* * *

"Kagome, there's something important I need to tell you," he said. "Something I shoulda told you a long time ago..." 

Kagome stared. She had never seen Inuyasha look so _serious_ before. Whatever he had to tell her, it most be momentous. "Yes?"

"I-I'm...I, uh..." He seemed to be having trouble getting the words out and paused.

"Yes?" she asked again, prompting him.

"Well, I...I'm..."

"You can tell me, Inuyasha."

**"I-I'M ACTUALLY A WOMAN!"** he--er, I mean, _she_ shouted.

"H-HUH?"

"_And _I'm carrying Justin Timberlake's love child."

* * *

**_The (Eventual) Stunning Conclusion of 'To Tame An Animal' Coming This Winter 2006 To A Fanfiction Site Near You!_**

Well, I'm off to start a novel! Come back in December to read the rest of this fic if you still remember it even exists by then! n.n Again, you have my apologies to stopping in the middle of a story, but I promise to pick it up again. Also, a new rule regarding people who are smarter than me leaving reviews will be adressed, but more on that later. xD Sorry for the delay, but please stayed tuned!

See Ya Next Month,

xoxoZana


	9. Part Eight, foh realizzle

**XIV.**

"I don't want to say "I told you so"...

"Then don't."

"...but I so totally told you so."

"Shut _up_. No comments from the peanut gallery."

"Why? It's not like you listen to me anyway, or otherwise that thing wouldn't have exploded in your hands. Oh, hey, I have an idea: why don't you try it again? Maybe this time it'll blow up the com-lock too!"

Kagome stopped what she was doing and slowly turned her head to Inuyasha. Her stony glare would have put Medusa to shame. He gulped.

"Just you wait," she growled. "I _will_ disable this stupid thing. And when I do, I am going to come in there and personally strangle you."

She made a mental note to strangle Miroku too, if she ever saw him in person again. She looked down in her hands at the "Electronic Lockpick" he had sent her per request, which was now broken and persisted on making an annoying buzzing noise to prove it. It looked fairly simple, construction wise: a 3x5 inch computer chip connected by a single thread of wire to a portable keypad of its own. The chip would (supposedly) act like a key-card, except you didn't swipe it all the through. Instead, it would (supposedly) hack into the system, making the com-lock believe it was a valid card. Then, when it asked for the code number, you would type any 10 digit number in the Lockpick's keypad, and again the system would (supposedly) be tricked into thinking it was valid, and thus would open the door. It was a just a proto-type, not even tested yet, but Miroku swore by all the deities believed in by man (and even a few he made up) that it was perfectly fool-proof and most assuredly safe.

If any of those deities actually existed, Miroku was going to hell.

Kagome wasn't exactly sure what had happened, but she figured it had something to do with the com-lock rejecting the fake key-card and causing it to short-circuit. And the chip was wired to the keypad which, of course, was unfortunately in Kagome's hands at the time. Inuyasha had exaggerated when he said it exploded, but it did steam a little and sparked quite a bit, leaving Kagome's palms a tad singed.

"Huh. That's weird," said Inuyasha. "I haven't been strangled yet."

Kagome looked at him through narrowed eyes.

"_Buuzzzzz_," said the broken lockpick.

Her eyes flicked back to the device. Wordlessly, she threw it to the floor, then slammed her sneakered foot down on it. One single stomp was all it took to silence the malfunctioning device. When she removed her foot, all that was left was a mess of sparkly, bite sized pieces. She bent over and swept the remains into her hand, then dumped the garbage into her bag.

"Sorry," she said, although she sounded more frustrated than upset at the failed attempt to open the cell door.

"Look, it's not like I could have gotten outside anyway," Inuyasha said, not exactly understanding that being pessimistic about it was not going to cheer her up. Encouraging words, like "Hey, you did your best," or "At least you tried," were a lost concept to him. He really w_as_ trying to cheer her up, but he was going about it in an entirely wrong way.

"The exits have sensors, remember?" he continued, mistaking Kagome's frown as a sign of confusion. "If I even tried to step outside, the alarms would go off and I'd be an instant pile of ashes."

"Well, they only go off with demons, right?" she said, but not very enthusiastically. "Change into your human form and you'll be fine."

"I can't change at will," he snorted. Humans were so ignorant.

"Oh. Well...when's the next time you change?"

"Next month."

Kagome seemed to think this over. She looked at Inuyasha in his cell, then at the com-lock that stubbornly refused to open, and then finally at her own, now red palms. A thought occurred to her, and she sighed, in a sort of defeated way, and told him, "I don't know what to do."

"Did you _ever_ know what to do?" he replied, the words accidently leaving his mouth before his brain had anything to say about it. Inwardly, he winced. Kagome was in a very delicate emotional state right now, even _he_ could tell that much. Okay, so she was always emotional, but Inuyasha usually liked that about her. He had never been exposed to a lot of emotions before he met Kagome, and it was nice change. She was just full of emotions: happy, sad, excited, scared, hyper, cheerful, hopeful, angry...

Anger by itself amused Inuyasha more than it worried him, because seeing Kagome get all worked up over something and grumbling and shouting was funny to him. Besides, she was never angry for long. Kagome didn't do angry well, when she was so used to more positive emotions.

But anger paired with frustration, annoyance, stress, and flat out exhaustion...Inuyasha couldn't think of a worse combination. After tonight's misadventures and failed proceedings, Kagome was a time bomb waiting to explode. Inuyasha had to watch what he said, because one wrong word would be enough to ignite the fuse...

She turned to him and flared.

...too late. His remark had been enough, and now one really tired and pissed off teenaged girl with burnt hands was ready to blow.

"Would you just shut up?" she exploded. "If you don't have anything supportive or useful to say, then why won't you just shut the hell up? Grrgh! I'm just–I try to help, and you just–just, all the time, you're always saying things like that, all the time! Can't you even pretend to be nice? I mean, just–just–ugh!"

She was pacing back and forth in front of his cell, gesturing madly with her hands and arms as she spoke and looking the most flustered he had ever seen her.

"Hey, take it easy, all right?" he tried. "I was just joking. Geez. Calm down."

She whirled on him, fists clenched as she yelled, "No, I will not calm down! Don't tell me to calm down! You're driving me crazy! You and your smart aleck remarks, and your pessimistic behavior, and all little snide comments! Why can't you just be positive for _once_?"

"Because I don't do positive," he growled slowly, starting to become angry himself. What right did _she_ have scold him? To tell _him _how to act? Just who did she think she was? "That's how I am, and if you didn't know by now, then you must be really stupid."

Inuyasha didn't lose his offended stance nor retracted his words, but something in his brain kicked in and screamed: no, no, NO! You _dumbass!_

"This is exactly what I'm talking about!" she said with exasperation. "You're being a total jerk and all I'm trying to do help! But you don't even appreciate that, do you? I just can't take it anymore, Inuyasha! I'm so sick of this!"

"Then quit!" he snapped. "Stop trying to change something you can't! Give up and go home and stop yelling at me! I don't need your help, I don't want your help, and I don't even remember asking for your help in the first place!"

"I don't need your permission to help people, Inuyasha! You might not want my help, but you need it, and they need it, and you know it!" Kagome was practically screaming now. "If you weren't such an ass all the time–"

"Yeah, and if _you_ weren't such a moody spazz all the time, who thinks she knows fucking everything," he retorted, his voice level matching hers. They were up in each others face now, or as far much as the cell wall allowed.

Inside his mind, that little voice, Mr. Conscience, was fighting to get his attention and had even brought along a friend of his called Mr. Common Sense to help, but their tiny voices were drowned out by a much louder noise that didn't even have a name. It was some sort of animalistic instinct mixed with pure rage. Most of the time, it was kept locked up somewhere deep inside him, and all for the better. It was almost an inhuman anger, much more different and powerful than Inuyasha's usual angry settings.

It was a beast.

The natural defenses of his sub-conscious tried to locked it away again, but the it was uncontrollable at this point. It roared at the sight of Kagome, the human. The human on the other side of the cage, free and high and mighty. The human shouting and scolding and condescending him with breath she took. Just like all the other humans. All the other enemies.

It was his turn to explode.

Kagome opened her mouth to retort, but her words never left her throat as Inuyasha slammed a fist into the wall in front of him and growled a loud strangle of undecipherable words. His blood was boiling in his veins and the beast inside him roared out its fury. There were no coherent thoughts in his mind; it was all searing hot anger. Anger at Kagome, anger at the humans, anger at the whole world and his misbegotten life in general.

He let it all out, let the animal take control and rage without holding back. A small part of him, being pushed away and buried, cried out through the din in his mind to make it stop, but he couldn't. Maybe there was no stopping now...

Kagome cringed and took a step back away from his cell. She kept stepping back until her feet got tangled and she tripped, falling to the ground in the very same way as she had the first day they met. But this time it wasn't funny and she didn't spring back up, but remained on the ground, staring up him.

Fearfully.

Inuyasha paused. He could sense her fear. She was afraid of him. And, in the corners of her eyes, tears were prickling up, threatening to rain down her face in any given moment.

The beast stopped.

In an instant, the animal and its rage were completely wiped away and locked back up again. His human conscious regained control of his mind, accompanied with a headache. His conscience sprang back into action, now that the intrusion was finally gone, and began telling him off, but Inuyasha already felt bad enough as it was. He unclenched his fists and looked away from Kagome, feeling shameful.

"Kagome, I–I'm...I'm sorry...I didn't mean..."

She pulled herself to feet and shook her head, wiping violently at her tears. "I-I don't know what to do," she said again, her voice barely a whisper. Then she broke into heavy sobs and turned and ran.

"Kagome!" he called after her, "Wait! Kagome!"

Inuyasha heard the front doors click shut, followed by a heavy silence.

Shell-shocked by it all, he remained standing limply by the glass wall. What was that? What had come over him? Absently, his eyes flickered to the wall and found the spot where he had punched it. His eyes widened as he saw the small, thin crack that impossibly marred a few inches of it. That glass was impenetrable, reinforced with steel grid. Nothing should have been able to even scratch it.

He did that?

Something was wrong. That rage, that strength, that anger...it was terrifying and overwhelming. His head, although now back to a state of sanity, was blaring with pain and his heart felt even worse. He had scared Kagome away. He had made her _cry._

He had lost it, plain and simple. And over something so _stupid_. Was it really that bad?

Forlorn and tired, Inuyasha finally stepped away and fell over on his bed. Naturally, he did not go to sleep. Instead, he stared up at the ceiling all night. His mind was completely devoid of all thoughts but was seeped in guilt as an image replayed again and again without end.

All night, he watched Kagome toppled on the ground, backing away from him and crying.

--TBC--

* * *

A/N: Well, there you go. A new chapter, of sorts. **Hooray.** I didn't enjoy writing it much, to be honest. All that arguing and emo stuff wasn't bound to be fun, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Ugh. Nano drained me. (I didn't even finish it!) So I guess I can blame any sucky-ness here on that, right? Whew.

Well, there you go. A new chapter, of sorts. I didn't enjoy writing it much, to be honest. All that arguing and emo stuff wasn't bound to be fun, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Ugh. Nano drained me. (I didn't even finish it!) So I guess I can blame any sucky-ness here on that, right? Whew. 

My god. **If angst was explosive, this chapter alone could blow up an entire city! **

Oh, and to all you smart readers out there: **stop it**. I'm serious! You can't be smarter than me, or figure things out before you're suppose to. I mean, come on! How dare you be intelligent! Lol, now _I _have to actually _think_ when I'm writing this. Thanks a lot! xD

-Head/desk-,

Zana

PS-Okay, fine, you allowed to be smart. Just keep it to yourselves, kay? Don't want it spreading, you know. xP


	10. Part Nine

**A/N:** Another shorite; I apologize. But fear not! The next chapter shouldn't take very long to finish. In fact, I could have waited and combined this and the next one together, which some people seem to prefer, but I actually have r_easons_ for not doing that. Okay, _reason._ **Reason being: **the two newest chapters, this one and the next, don't go well together. I should have put this one with the last one, but alas, I was too slow writing it. Plus, the next chapter is somewhat dramatic while this one is kinda mellow. So I decided to go ahead and post this first, then smother you with action and drama, or **dramaction**, later this week.

To make it up to you, I am going to...**sing!** Oh yesh, revel in my beautiful voice that you cannot hear through typing! (Actually, this might be a good thing. "Beautiful" is certainly a stretching point.)

**-que music-**

I WANT TO CHAAANGE THE WORLD! SOMETHING-SOMETHING, DON'T KNOOOOW THE WORDS!

TO THIS SONG! BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH! JAPANESE, BLAH BLAH BLAH!

_(Wft, Zana)_

IT'S WOOONDERLAND! xD

* * *

**XV.**

Kagome didn't know what to do.

And look at what had happened because of it.

She had went straight home, and practically ran all the way. She didn't want to think, so running kept her occupied. It also left her short of breath, but that was just all the more distracting, so she didn't mind. There was too much to think about–too much had happened...if she tried to sort it all out now, surely her brain would implode. She just wanted to get home first.

Even though she was running, or rather, _because _she was running instead of taking a shuttle, it took some time to reach her house. By the time she made it home, she was ready to collapse right there on the door step. But her bed sounded more inviting, so she determinedly placed her palm on the family's scan-lock and snuck inside, quietly tip-toeing up the stairs (with the support of the handrail) as the front door re-locked itself. She ducked into her mother's bedroom, careful not to make any noise as she slipped her mother's ID card back onto her dresser. Then she backed quietly out of the room and headed to her own.

Exhausted, Kagome simply kicked off her shoes, dropped her bag by the door, and fell over on her bed. She buried her face into her big, soft pillow and sighed. Maybe it would be better if she just went to sleep, and sorted things out in the morning, after a good night's rest.

But as soon as she shut her eyes, an image of the berserk and enraged Inuyasha appeared in her mind, and her eyes flashed opened again accompanied by a gasp.

Then Kagome groaned and rolled over on her back, now staring up at the ceiling. Apparently, there was going to be no sleeping tonight, which also meant no putting things off. She didn't _want _to think about it, but there wasn't anything else her mind would focus on.

What had happened back there? She and Inuyasha got into a fight, obviously, but there wasn't anything unusual about that: they always argued. Granted, this one was probably the worst one they had so far, and Kagome couldn't help but think it was partly her fault since she was the one who incited it. Inuyasha was just being Inuyasha, but she let her frustration get the best of her and attacked him for it.

But what happened after that...

Something overtook Inuyasha, and it wasn't just anger, it was anger at whole new level, combined something Kagome couldn't exactly identify. He had _changed_. Not just his anger and his voice but his face too: jagged, purpled lines had marked both sides of his face and his eyes had turned a horrible blood-red. And when he had punched his fist into the cell wall, he c_racked_ it!

When he changed, he wasn't Inuyasha anymore; he became something else, something crazed and unpredictable, and it had scared her. The Inuyasha she knew had disappeared and was replaced with something feral, and even if it was just for a moment, it had scared Kagome half to death. She was so frightened by it that, even after he had regained control of himself, even after he actually _apologized_ for it, her instincts screamed "Run!" and she did, taking off like a startled fawn.

Now she almost felt ashamed for fleeing like that. Whatever had happened, she knew Inuyasha didn't mean for it to. In fact, he was probably just as scared as her!

But _why_ did it happen? Because they were fighting? He had never changed like that before, though. Was it something the Facility did? The results of some horrible experiment?

"_No one did this to me..."_

The words came echoing back to Kagome as she thought it over, and she recalled the time she had found Inuyasha asleep in his cell, in a human form.

"_It happens on its own,"_ he had said. _"Once every month. It's because of my human blood or something..."_

Human blood. Since he was a halfling, Inuyasha had human blood in him. But that meant he also had demon blood. And if his human blood could make his body change every month, what's to say his demon blood couldn't do the same? Was that what had happened tonight? Did he change into a full demon?

Kagome rolled the idea over in her mind. Technically speaking, it made sense, but realistically speaking, it didn't. First of all, the change hadn't lasted that long, not all day like it did when he took his human form. Secondly, Inuyasha had looked shocked afterwards, suggesting that this had never happened to him before.

So she was back at square one, once again unsure of everything.

She tried closing her eyes again, but sleep just wasn't on the agenda tonight. She was too hyped up now. Looking at the plain white ceiling above her, she figured she might as well try to relax herself. Things would make more sense if she was calmer.

"Menu," she said aloud, and a drop down list appeared on the wall next to her bed. She reached out her arm and tapped a finger on the menu, using the wall's now activated touch sensors to scroll down the options. She clicked on 'Display', which opened up another window. This time she clicked on 'Star Show' and then closed the window.

Her room was lit blue as a starry night sky was projected onto her ceiling. It matched the real night sky exactly, displaying all the moons and constellations that hung above the planet. Of course, it was actually harder to see the real stars in the sky from the city, with all the smog and chemicals that were released into it; on her ceiling was the clearest Kagome could ever see it. She used to turn the display on every night when she was little, to help keep away the monsters under her bed and lure her to sleep. The twinkling stars were soothing, and Kagome got the desired results. Already she felt better, her mind less panicked.

Did Inuyasha remember what the night sky looked like? His cell, the whole Facility, was bare and grey. He never had anything interesting or soothing to look at, not even visual imitations like she did. Again, Kagome was reminded of how unfair it was, and that it was up to her to do something about it.

She watched the stars swirl slowly around on her ceiling and sighed. She knew she was going back; she had a job to do. Whatever was up with Inuyasha, they could sort it out. She hoped would never have to see him like that again, but the possibility that she might was not going to stop her. He was her friend and he would never hurt her. She was sure of that.

But again and again, that hopeless thought haunted her: she didn't know what to do. She had to free Inuyasha, Shippo, and all the others, that much was obvious...but she didn't have a clue how. Exposing the whole situation to the public would dangerous and reckless. Freeing Inuyasha from his cell was hard enough as it was; freeing everyone would be next to impossible, and not mention the chaos it cause. What if she gathered a group of close, trustworthy people and told them the secret? Maybe if enough people wanted to help, they could work together to free the captives and...then what? Challenge the government? Start a civil war while they were already at war with another country?

Maybe it w_as_ hopeless. She had been at this for nearly two months, and still she no plan, no direction! She was just one girl; what could she possibly do? Maybe Inuyasha was right from the start. Maybe she couldn't do anything after all.

Up on the ceiling, a shooting star flashed by.

_What could she do..?_

Kagome closed her eyes and made a wish.

**--TBC--**


	11. Part Ten

**A/N:** Okay, the chapters might be getting a little shorter, but that just means they'll be updated faster. :D **_I'm working on it._** Now, for some irrelevant stuff:

Bonus points go to Sam, the annoymous reviewer, for getting the **Monty Python's Holy Grail **reference in chapter five...I mean three! xD

_"Okay, on the count of three! 1, 2, 5--" _

"Three, milord!"

_"THREE!"_

xD Lawl. Anyway, there's a couple of references throughout this story, both in and out of context, **that I snuck in there just for fun.** Some _are _Inuyasha-related, like the **oh-so-obvious** one in this chapter, while the rest are from various other sources. Can you spot any others? Bonus points for each correct find, you know. FTW!

I just now** realized** that in all of my author notes, I tend to **randomly bold words** for no reason. **Huh.**

And now, before you go off to read this chapter, I have one last thing to say:

**OMFG, I have over a HUNDRED reviews! THANKS EVERYONE! I fricking LOVE you ALL!**

Platonically, of course,

Zana

* * *

**XVI. **

The dragon darted its long neck forward, its giant set of jaws rushing down at Inuyasha with tremendous force. He jumped to the side at the very last second, narrowly dodging the rows of teeth that snapped for him. The dragon ran its head into the boulders and snarled with pain.

It had been almost three weeks now and there was still no sign of Kagome.

At first, this had put Inuyasha in a foul mood. Seeing Kagome was the highlight of his day, but lately, the only thing he really had to look forward to was lunch and whether or not it would be noodles. He felt as if he had been ditched, forgotten, abandoned even. You don't promise to help someone and then leave them to fry. How could Kagome do such a thing?

And that's when he really started to think about it. Because, first of all, Kagome _wouldn't_ do such a thing. It wasn't like her at all. So then, where was she? Why hadn't she come in so long? Inuyasha was begining to worry himself sick. Did something bad happen to Kagome?

The dragon reared and attacked again, sending rocks flying as it moved about. Inuyasha, claws poised, leapt forward and slashed at its foreleg. The creature roared and swiped at him, but its heavy size made it slow and Inuyasha managed to dodge once more. Jumping from boulder to boulder, he tried to get even with the dragon's head, where it would be more vulnerable to attack.

Or was she still scared of him?

Maybe. Whatever had happened to him that night, it had certainly freaked her out. Hell, it freaked _him_ out. That rage, that power, that strength...where had that all come from? It was almost scary, the way he had lost control like that. The way the sight of Kagome made his blood boil. What would have happened if the cell wall hadn't been in his way? Just thinking about it made him sick.

The dragon flapped it wings in two, powerful beats, sending bursts of wind at Inuyasha. He lost his footing and was sent flying backwards. Before he fell to the ground below, though, he managed to grab onto another boulder and pulled himself back up.

Although he would never admit it, it also fascinated him as much as it worried him. That crack in the wall... No one else had noticed it yet–-it was just a little line–but Inuyasha couldn't help to be excited. From what he had heard, his brother had punched through the glass in his cell, when he escaped all those years ago. Of course, the Facility reinforced all the cell walls after that little incident, but if Inuyasha could put a crack in it, surely he could do it again. The only downside was that he would have to lose control again, to give into the animal inside him. And what if he didn't change back this time? What if he stayed that way forever? Maybe it wasn't worth the risk.

Just as he managed to steady himself, the dragon made another lunge for him.

Risks. Maybe that's why Kagome had stopped coming; she had finally realized how risky it was. Maybe she found out the hard way, by _being_ found out. He didn't want to think about it, but it was the only thing that made sense. Kagome might have been–okay, _had_ been–scared shitless from their last meeting, but when has fear ever stopped her? She had been scared lots of times before, but she always came back. She was stubborn like that. She was forgiving too; Kagome couldn't hold a grudge the same way a squeamish guy couldn't hold his lunch while riding a roller coaster. There was no way that, after three weeks, she could still be mad at him. Even she was, Inuyasha would bet that she would _still_ come back; her sense of justice would make sure of it. After all, she wanted to free everyone, not just him, and they hadn't done anything wrong. So there was only one logical explaination left: they found out. She messed up somewhere and got caught.

He refused to think of what might have happened next.

He didn't have time to think, anyways. The dragon swiped its talons at him and caught off across the shoulder this time. Inuyasha stumbled backwards and his hand instinctively went to his shoulder. He needed to _focus_. He forced his thoughts away and concentrated on the enemy. At the same time that it zoomed its head forward at him, Inuyasha launched himself off the rocks. The distance between them was closing, and Inuyasha ripped his claws through the beast's throat as he flew by. He landed with both feet on the ground and turned around to face his foe. Although there was no blood on Inuyasha's hands, the dragon's throat was gushing it. It roared once more and then flickered. It flickered again, and then the image distorted, the dragon fading into a billion pixels.

Slowly, the rocky environment that had surrounded him dissolved away too and the floor machines kicked in, rumbling and reshaping the ground back to it's normal, flat surface. Inuyasha wobbled a bit but kept his balance as the former "rock" he had been standing on deflated back into the floor. The simulation room was now back at it's default settings, a huge white room the size of a football field marked with little grey sensory dots at every other centimeter. There was a single door camouflaged to match the inside of the room, and Inuyasha knew that there was a one-way mirror on one of these walls, where a group of technicians and scientists were watching and taking notes.

He rubbed his shoulder where the dragon had got him. There was no wound, obviously; a computer generated creature couldn't do any physical harm. Yet it still had hurt, almost as if a real dragon actually _did _cut into his shoulder. He bet it had something with those new armbands they put on him. When he tried to take them off, they wouldn't budge. It felt as if they were wired into his skin almost, like a some sort of super band-aid that if you tried to remove too fast, it wouldn't just take a few arm hairs but your entire upper epidermis as well.

"Now why would anyone want to experience _simulated pain_?" he growled in frustration. It was such a stupid idea! No one would buy it. But that probably wasn't the point. They probably made it just to see if they could.

Inuyasha heaved a sigh and waited for the guards to come and collect him. He was exhausted, and not mention his shoulder ached from a wound that didn't even exist. He was looking forward to a break.

But when the door opened, it wasn't just guards that came in. There were several white-coats with them, and they seemed to be arguing. Inuyasha, still yards away in the center of the sim room, stood his ground and strained to hear what they were saying.

"...but we had it scheduled since last week!" someone said defensively. "The GVX Team wanted us to test out their newest simulation accessories as soon as possible. Number 7562-03 was the only one in the East Ward available..."

They were talking about him. Number 7562-03 was Inuyasha. He narrowed his eyes as the tiny figures grew larger as they came closer.

"...should of sent a memo," said someone else. "How were we supposed to know..?"

"That's not the point," said another, more authoritive voice. "You didn't even get it approved by a supervisor first. That's sloppy workmanship, you know..."

"Why does the Head want him anyway? I mean, if he's due for a..." The voices suddenly broke off into different branches, the scientists bickering and trying to speak all at once. Inuyasha couldn't make anything out of the ramble of noises, even as they came closer.

Then, when they were just some yards away from him, the lead white-coat held up a hand and the talking suddenly ceased. Motioning for the others to stay behind, including the guards, the man stepped forward and flashed Inuyasha a friendly grin, which immediately put him on edge. In the Facility, smiles are only given when they mean the opposite of what they stand for.

"Hello there, Number 7562-03...Inuyasha, isn't it?" chirped the man. "I'm Dr. Suikotsu, from the genetics department." He pointed to the ID card hanging from a chain, as if to confirm this, then politely extended his hand to Inuyasha. Inuyasha raised an eye brow and made no moves to shake hands with the strange doctor. The doctor's smile didn't flatter, though, and he continued. "I was sent here to inform you that the Head Commissioner himself has requested an audience with you, and that you're to go see him immediately. What a surprise, eh?"

Little alarms were going off in Inuyasha's head. The doctor alone was strange enough; he was talking to him as a person instead of a thing, which wasn't normal for members of the Staff. And the Head Commissioner wanted to see _him_? The Head Honcho, the Big Man, the guy who was in charge of the entire Facility...why in the world did he want to see Inuyasha for? Surely he had more important things to do than chit-chat with a test subject.

Somehow, Inuyasha got the feeling that this didn't bode well.

"Let's get those bands off you and send you on your way, now," said Dr. Suikotsu. "Don't want to make the Head wait."

"Thanks, but I think I'd rather just go back to my cell," Inuyasha sneered. "Give my apologizes to the Boss man for me, will ya?"

"I don't think you understand," said the doctor, his voice suddenly becoming a lot less friendly. "You don't have a choice. The Head wants to see you immediately, while there's still time. So you _must_ go."

This would be a good time for another escape attempt, Inuyasha decided. It had been a while since he last tried, though, so he might be a little rusty. Oh well, it would be good exercise. And stalling, too. Inuyasha took a breath, then launched himself forward...

...only to be knocked over and pinned to the ground, with someone's foot pressing down on his throat. He expected to see a guard, but no, the style wasn't right. The guards weren't much for close range combat when they could simply shoot at you instead. Inuyasha was surprised to see that the one stepping on his neck was, in fact, the doctor, who had instantly changed from cheerful to enraged, with a side of psychotic.

"Enough!" he barked. "There is no time to put up with your childish games. You are going to see the Head and that's final. I am going to let you up now, and if you value your misbegotten life, then you shall do as your told and allow the guards to escort you to the main office."

The man removed his foot and stepped back, allowing Inuyasha to get up. The guards flocked forward, surrounding him at once and goading him towards the exit. The other scientists and doctors watched impassively as he was escorted out, although a few were staring at Suikotsu with the same shocked expression Inuyasha had just moments before.

"Have a nice time, Inuyasha!" called the doctor as they left, suddenly chipper again.

_I'm assuming that means I won't, _thought Inuyasha as he was lead out into the halls. _After all, when did I ever have a "nice time" in this hell hole?_

Then he thought of Kagome and answered his own question.

It was weird. She wasn't there and that kinda hurt, in a non-physical sort of way. Is this what it felt like to miss someone?

**--TBC--**

* * *

**(Omake React!)**

**Doctor: **You're going to see the Head, and that's final. Now go!

**Inuyasha:**

**Doctor:** I said, Now go!

**Inuyasha:**

**Doctor:** Okay, why isn't he getting up?

**Guard: **I think you pressed too hard on his throat, sir. It looks like you snapped his neck.

**Doctor:** ...oh.

**Doctor:** ...sucks to be him, then.

**(Fin!)**


	12. Part Eleven

**XVII.**

It wasn't a long walk to the Main Office, since the Simulation Rooms were only a floor and two hallways away. The whole time Inuyasha was trying to come up with an escape plan, but nothing was in his favor. He had only been to this part of the building a few, sparse times before, so he didn't know his way around. The simulation armbands he had been testing out were removed and replaced with cuffs, the kinds that used a high level of magnetic force to keep his hands behind his back. A half dozen armed guards were packed tightly around him, surrounding him completely and leaving no room for an exit. They marched steadily onwards, pushing him to the Office with no means of escape.

Employees and droids parted as they passed. It was a lot more crowded and busy here in the center of the Facility, he noticed. The many different scents and noises were almost overwhelming. As he was forced down another hallway, though, it suddenly became less noisy and the stream of people thinned. This hallway was long and straight, with only a door at its end. It was the door to the Main Office, where the Head Commissioner of the Facility was waiting for him.

One of the guards detached himself from the escort group and knocked briskly on the door. A voice spurted out from a speaker in reply.

"State your business," said a bitter, female voice.

"Delivery for the Head Commissioner," answered the guard. "Subject Number 7562-03, Canis-Demonoid/Human Halfling, as per request."

"Confirmed," buzzed the voice. "Place the subject directly outside the door. You are to stand guard until the session is over and await further instructions."

Inuyasha was shoved forward with such force that he actually hit the door. The guards fell back and formed a tight barrier in the hall, a human wall preventing him from fleeing. Something inside him burned and for a moment, he consider attacking the brainless thugs, cuffs or no cuffs. But for once, common sense won the round; there were six of them, all armed, and in a small place. Tying to fight them would only make things worse, so he backed down and turned to the face the door that he had so rudely been thrown into.

It looked ordinary enough, except for the fact that there were no handles or knobs in which to open it. He wondered if he was supposed to knock too, or just keep waiting. It seemed like forever before the door finally slid open and allowed him entrance.

With nowhere else to go, Inuyasha stepped forward. The door immediately closed shut behind him. The room he had now entered was a small rectangular lobby and a lot plainer than he had expected. There was one cushioned bench running alongside the left wall and a front desk placed next to yet another knob-less door. Besides those things and a few other furnishings, there was nothing. The walls were painted green, but it was such a faded and dull green that it wasn't much better than the all grey of the rest of the building. The ceiling lights were bright, but like most of the rooms in the Facility, there were no windows. Obviously, no one had thought to hire an interior decorator when they built this place.

There was a woman sitting behind the desk that Inuyasha didn't notice until he was looking straight at her. There was a stylus stuck into the bun of black hair piled at the back of her head, and she pulled it out and began scribbling something onto a palm-com with it. Red eyes glared at him, then flicked back to the computer as she continued writing and clicking. Just as Inuyasha was about to open his mouth, the woman stood up and went to the back door. It slid open at her approach and she stuck her in to speak to whoever was inside.

"He's here, and yes, I've already finished registering it in," she said.

"Fine," said a voice. "Bring him here, then you may go. Be back in exactly one hour; I have much to do. The guards are still outside the office, correct?"

"Yeah, yeah," the woman flippantly replied. "I'm taking my break now. You," she snapped, and Inuyasha realized she was now talking to him. "The Head Commissioner's waiting, so get going."

The secretary brushed past him and snorted. Almost as if his feet had a mind of its own, Inuyasha found himself walking forward and through the newest door. Like the one before it, it too closed shut after he passed the threshold, and again, there were no knobs or handles on it.

The scent in this room was the same as the one in the lobby, but the secretary had not come in with him. This scent must then belonged to the man sitting comfortably behind the huge oak desk. Everything in this room was a lot like the lobby, only bigger and more stature somehow, along with more chairs, cabinets, hanging certificates, and a giant LCD screen taking up the entire back wall behind the desk. It was currently a blank black, acting like a background for the figure sitting in front of it.

Inuyasha had only seen the Head Commissioner a couple times during his entire time at the Facility, and even then it was from far away. He didn't know much about the man, either, except that he was one of the original people that came up with the idea of the Facility and somehow had worked his way to the top position there, in charge of the entire building.

What he wanted with him, Inuyasha couldn't even begin to guess and quite frankly, he didn't want to. He instinctively didn't like the man; there was something about him that wasn't quite right, and just one look at him told Inuyasha that he was dealing with someone dangerous. The man was probably in his thirties and had long, wavy black hair that was loosely pulled back for proper work attire, which also included a suit and tie. His eyes were black and cold. He was smiling at Inuyasha, or rather, the corners of his lips were turned up; calling it actual _smiling_ would be a stretching point. He had a calm, authoritive manner about him, but with a slight smug feel to it, as if he were silently gloating over something.

And there was something off about him.

Inuyasha wasn't sure what it was, but there was something wrong about this man. He definitely _looked_ human, but he didn't _feel_ human. Maybe Inuyasha was just imagining it, maybe there wasn't unusual about the Head, but he couldn't help to feel suspicious. There was something familiar about this, but he couldn't figure out what exactly. Either way, this was no normal human, whatever was wrong with him. His mere presence put Inuyasha on edge.

"Have a seat," said the Head Commissioner, gesturing at the two chairs in front of his desk. Although it was spoken in polite tones, Inuyasha knew that it wasn't an offer but an order. That alone was usually enough to make him refuse, as Inuyasha hated taking orders from anyone. But it beat standing, and besides, the chairs seemed harmless enough, even comfortable.

Somewhat warily, Inuyasha sank into the closet chair while under the steely gaze of the Head. For a moment, Inuyasha avoided that gaze and examined the desk in front of him. It was neat and organized, and a plaque reading 'ONIGUMO OKAMA NARAKU - HEAD COMMISSIONER' shone at the edge of the desk. There was a speaker box and keypad on the desk as well, along with a few other little office things, all lined up in ordered rows. As he looked, Inuyasha became aware of the impatient eyes of the man trying to stare holes into his head. Annoyed, he finally looked up.

Inuyasha didn't like the way Onigumo O. Naraku was looking at him. It was a predatory stare, as the man was surveying his prey and silently debating when and how to strike. And again, he felt strange vibes coming from the man. Something was not right.

"Pleasure to finally meet you face-to-face, Inuyasha," Naraku finally said, with a venomous smile. "I'm sure you're wondering why I called you here today?"

"Wow, you're psychic," Inuyasha snorted.

"More omniscient, really," Naraku replied with seriousness. "I know of everything that takes place in this building, as well as everyone who works here, and everyone who is held here. _Nothing_ get pasts me."

Inuyasha didn't retort this time, but lowered his eyes. Inside his chest, his heartbeat accelerated. Was there some meaning behind those words?

"And I know everything about _you_, Inuyasha," he continued. "Yes, especially you. You are quite valuable to me, believe it or not. Finding you those seven years ago was like striking oil. A halfling. How fortunate I am, I told myself, to finally have another halfling to use for testing."

A growl rose up in Inuyasha's throat, his hatred for this man only natural, but he paused as something crossed his mind. "_Another_ halfling..?" he asked incredulously, narrowing his eyes as Naraku's lips curled into his creepy, smug smile.

"Come, now, Inuyasha," he said. "I know you're not the brightest, but you're sharp enough. You have instinct. And you wouldn't believe that I would want to test on myself, now would you? It would be dangerous."

It finally clicked. Why Nakaru's presence felt so strange, what wasn't right about him. Inuyasha stared at him, eyes wide, and stated, "You're...part demon. You're a halfling!"

"More or less correct," the head comissioner replied cooly. "Although you could say I'm more of a demon in human skin. Let's just say a certain...contract..was made between some demons and a Mr. Onigumo...I am the result. However, although this human body is useful for my operations, the Onigumo part is rather hindering my full potential and his deal is now null and void. 'How does one become a true, full demon then?' I asked myself. There was no research nor information on such a subject. So after procuring this establishment, I decided to find out."

Naraku leaned forward, folding his arms on his desk and leering at Inuyasha with what could only be described as cheerful malice.

"And that is your reason for being, Inuyasha," he snipped. "Why you were brought here. And why you've been here so long. Do you know that you're the only subject who has ever survived here for this long? Seven years; that's a record. You've been protected from the worse as I needed you to find my answer. You being here is not benefitting the government or its pathetic nation; it's benefitting _me_."

A thousand things were running through Inuyasha's mind. The Head Comissioner was a halfling! This Facility full of demon lab rats was being run by a part-demon, and no one had ever known! Naraku was traitor, but a traitor to who? Haden and its humans? Or the captive demons? And Inuyasha was being used! Well, okay, he was always being used, but this was for Naraku alone. To discover how a halfling works and how it can be changed. He was Naraku's practice dummy. If there was ever a time that Inuyasha wanted to grab someone by the neck and rip their head clean off, it was now.

But for once, curiosity got the best of him. This wasn't making sense, so he had to know...

"Why are you telling me all this?"

Perhaps, had Inuyasha received a better and more thorough education, he would have come to the obvious conclusion himself. When someone of evil nature explains things such as his personal plans, secrets, and reasons, it never bodes well. You don't spill the beans to an opponent and just let them go on their merry way. The phrase "I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you," usually comes to mind in these instances.

Unfortunately, it was a phrase Inuyasha had never heard before.

"Because," sneered Naraku, "I felt that you were owed an explaination. Although I have yet to come up with a solid hypothesis for a full transformation, researching you did have its merits. There have been many good results and I am pleased. Since you were the source of this progress, you deserved something for it. And it doesn't stop here, Inuyasha. You caught me in a good mood today, and I'm willing to sate your curiosity further. I believe you are worried about a young human girl, a Miss...Higurashi?"

Inuyasha bolted up right in his chair and his eyes flashed with alertness. The smart thing to do would be to play dumb, but the look on Inuyasha's face was a dead giveaway. Either way, it wouldn't have mattered.

Naraku _knew._

**--TBC--**

**

* * *

**

**A/N:** **Bum Bum Buuuhm! **Oh, come on. You knew it he was going to show up sooner or later, right? Although my Naraku seems to differ a lot from the series' Naraku. My Naraku is kinda snobby and talks waaaay too much. **Meh.** Now, I'd like to **apologize** for the shortness of this chapter, it's long delay, and crappy cliffhanger. I have my reasons, and my reasons may delay this further. But **no**, I have not abandoned the story, and **yes**, it's almost over. **Be happy.**

And as for Kagome, weeeell...she may **still** very well be in the clutces the **evil purple** alien space cows. The whole cast and crew is searching for her, but so far, extraterrestial bovines is all anyone can come up with at the moment.** Yeesh.**

Keeping **It** Real,

Za**n**a

**(Omake React!)**

**Secretary: **The Head Comissioner's waiting, so get going.

**Inuyasha:** Okay. (Geez, what crawled up your ass and died?) _-Enters the Head's office. No one is there.-_

**Inuyasha:** So, are you telling me the Head Comissioner is a desk..?

**Naraku:** _-jumps out from behind a chair-_ OGGA BOGGA!

**Inuyasha:** AAIIIEEEE! What the? Naraku! How the hell did you become the Head... Okay, screw it. Whaddya want from me?

**Naraku:** Nothing. I just wanted to hear you scream like a little girl. It's funny. You're such a pansy!

**Naraku:** Lawl.

**(FIN)**


	13. Part Twelve

**A/N: **Zomg, I did it! I didn't think was going this chapter up by tonight, but I did it! **Yayers!** However, editing might be a bit sloppy. It's three in the morning plus I took medicine tonight, so needless to say, I'm **bushed. So** beware the** typos**. My determination only takes me so far before it gets replaced with the **urge to sleep**. xD

I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter. I keep thinking I coulda done it **better**. And Naraku is just plain awful. He went, like, total **stero-typical villian** on me. Okay, I guess **even in** the actual series he's pretty stero-typical, **but geez**. My Naraku is lame. And somehow, he ended up having something like a British accent. I mean, he just talks so **spiffy **and properly and I don't even know where that came from! **Guh!** If he were real, I'd take a mallet or something and **beat him to death** just to shut him up!! -head/desk-

Oh, and **no news** on the alien space **cows** yet either.

God I'm tired,

Z**a**n**a

* * *

**

**XVIII.**

Naraku knew. He knew about Kagome. And Inuyasha did _not_ like that "smile" he was giving him.

"You bastard," Inuyasha growled at him, "Where's Kagome? I swear, if you did anything to her, I'll rip throat out and--"

"If you can manage that with your hands cuffed behind your back, I'd be truly amazed," Naraku said cooly, cutting him off. "Remember now, you're pretty much defenseless at the moment. Offenseless too, I should add."

Inuyasha was going to make Naraku eat those words. Enraged, he threw himself forward from his chair and swung his leg in a high kick in direction to Naraku's head.

It felt like kicking a wall. Mainly because his foot did not come in contact with its target but with a instantaneous generated barrier instead. Inuyasha saw the silvery strains of packed energy flashed briefly as his foot slammed into it. When he fell back, the barrier was already invisible again, as if it were never there. And it wasn't; the barrier only generated when its occupant, in this case Naraku, was threatened.

Inuyasha stumbled back onto his feet and, being stubborn like he is, he kicked it again.

"If I'm defenseless, then what's with this?" retorted Inuyasha. "You coward!"

Naraku's smug smile did a 360 and he glowered at Inuyasha with stark disapproval, as if he excepted something better from him. He shook his head.

"It's intelligence, not cowardice. This barrier is often on. Although I'm powerful enough to survive on my own with ease, a little extra doesn't hurt. Besides, I don't have time for you to try to pointlessly attack me. Enough with this childish behavior, Inuyasha. Sit back down."

If he really wanted Inuyasha to sit back in his chair, Naraku should have said "Keep standing." But when Inuyasha pointedly refused to budge, he simply shrugged. If the halfling wanted to stand on his feet for a while, then so be it. He may have hated being disobeyed, but Naraku wasn't going to argue with the boy. They were running short on time as it was. If Inuyasha didn't sit back in that chair, there were others ways of doing it.

"What did you to do to Kagome?" Inuyasha repeated, his voice loud and demanding.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" Inuyasha echoed with surprise. He blinked, unsure if he had heard correctly, and absently sat back down in the chair. Naraku hid his smile.

"Funny, I thought those ears of yours enhanced your hearing," he said, looking slightly irritated. "Yes, nothing. The girl does not pose a threat, so there's no need to apprehend her. It was quite shock, though, I admit. I never expected that anyone would bother sneaking in here. It's a good thing that girl isn't very bright, or there may have been problems."

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said, when a growl rose in Inuyasha's throat. "Didn't mean to be insultive. But let's be honest, now. The girl obviously had no idea what she was doing. Security knew right away that something was wrong when the cameras recorded black _before_ the lock-down. A simple system scan confirmed that they had been tampered with. And did you know that the com-locks record each and every card swipe? When the records showed that an employee had re-entered the building during after hours, it was positive that someone was trespassing."

Inuyasha stared. "You...you knew all along? From the very beginning?"

"Of course," Naraku snapped. "Security isn't that lax around here."

"If you knew, why didn't you ever stop her?" Inuyasha asked, truly curious and confused by the matter.

"I planned to, at first," he explained. "But when the records said that it was Higurashi from the nursing staff, I became curious. She didn't seem to be the kind of person to try something as this. So I told security to let it go. Instead of confronting the nurse, I had the nanocams activated and waited to see if the culprit would return. As the name suggests, nanocams are very small. Only Security and a few others know these tiny cameras are hidden everywhere throughout the compound. Very powerful, nanocams, and very expensive to run, which is why we only use them when the regular cameras fail. No home-made gadget is strong enough to affect them, so if someone trespassed again, they would catch it."

"Our mystery visitor came again," he continued, "And just as I thought, it was not the nurse at all. Some quick research showed that it was, in fact, her sixteen year old daughter, Kagome Higurashi. I was intrigued to as why she was here, sneaking around the holding cells at night. When I saw who she was visiting each night she came, I was intrigued even more. This might prove interesting, I thought, so I did nothing but monitor your secret meetings and take note."

Naraku paused and typed something into his keypad. Behind him, the giant LCD screen came to life, emitting a blue glow. Naraku entered something else, and the blue dissolved, replaced with a full color video feed. On the wall behind Naraku, Inuyasha watched as his very first encounter with Kagome was replayed back to him.

"_Kagome?"_

"_OHMYGOD! Oh my god. H-how do y-you my name?"_

"_I guessed."_

"The girl was harmless, being so amateur with the security here, so I wasn't worried. In fact, it was rather amusing when she tried to free you."

Inuyasha listened with mixed reactions. He was embarrassed, outraged, afraid, and in shock, all at once. Naraku had been spying the whole time! Inuyasha had known something was going to go wrong. He had warned Kagome on several occasions. Now it turned out he was wrong. Something had gone wrong from the _very beginning_.

The scene on the wall changed. It began to flip through all the recorded meetings with Kagome, in rapid fire secession. Inuyasha looked at his stolen memories and listened to the bits of audio that accompanied them with a numb feeling.

"_Inuyasha! I can't see!" Phzzt._

She was such a ditz.

"_You smell nice." Phzzt._

That was still embarrassing. But it was true.

"_Y-you really think they k-kill me?"_

"_Nah. That would be a waste of valuable research material." Phzzt._

Maybe he shouldn't have teased her so much.

"_Please go to sleep."_

"_Can't see you if I sleep."_

"_I'll come back–" Phzzt._

Why hadn't she come back?

"_I just can't take it anymore, Inuyasha! I'm so sick of this!" Phzzt._

Did she hate him?

"_Wait! Kagome!"_

_Phzzzt._

Naraku, who had been watching Inuyasha impassively as the videos played, now tapped the keypad and closed the program, causing the screen to go immediately black. Naraku smiled his creepy smile. The pained expression on Inuyasha's face only made it wider.

"This whole thing was very entertaining, if not useful," he commented. Inuyasha turned his head and blinked at him, as if he just realized Naraku was there.

Something was churning in his mind.

"You said you didn't do anything to her," Inuyasha said slowly, "Why should I believe that?"

"I believe I already explained that she isn't a threat," Naraku answered. "Besides, I've been truthful with you so far. What reason would I have to lie to someone like you?"

"Fine. So then tell me, Mr. Omniscient, why hasn't she come back? Where is she?"

He was dreading the answer–whatever it was, it couldn't be good–but he had to know.

"Relax, Inuyasha," said Naraku, which only produced the opposite affects. "Miss Higurashi is safe and sound. I noticed when she stopped coming and sent informatives out to find out why, in case the girl was up to something. It turns out that she ceased coming simply because she wished to. We kept tabs on her for a few days, but she was behaving normally; going to school, laughing with friends, going home each night... It was also reported that she is healthy, both physically and emotionally. She hasn't been near our Facility and apparently this doesn't seem to bother her. I had someone hack into her computer system and delete any saved files relating to us, and that was all I needed to do. I suppose she has given up and moved on."

"Yes, I'm was just as surprised as you," he added, noticing Inuyasha's reaction. "But don't misunderstand. Humans are very fickle and cautious creatures. The girl was probably excited at the chance of an adventure and eager to help the poor, mistreated demons. But after a while, I'm afraid reality must have sunk in and she decided her own safety was more important. That, or she simply became bored with it all. Most humans do have relatively short attention spans, as it were..."

Truth rang in Naraku's words, which both relieved and pained Inuyasha. Relieved because it meant Kagome was safe. Pained because it meant she didn't care after all. He wanted to rip through the barrier and tear Naraku apart either way, just to take his frustration out _someone_.

But he was too numb to move.

At first he thought it was because he was in shock. But after he recovered, Inuyasha found that he was _literally_ too numb to move. He tried to flex his arm but there was no response. His brain sent messages to his legs to get up, but nothing happened. Searching his mind for an explaination, he vaguely recalled something pricking the palm of his hand when he had sunk back into chair earlier.

Of course. Naraku had him numbed. Inuyasha bet that if he could lift his right hand, he would see the thin needle still there on the arm of the chair, or at least the compartment it had been hidden in before. As soon as he had been pricked, Naraku started talking, diverting his attention. Then the video feeds kept him distracted even longer, long enough so that now he could barely move any part of his body.

"What's the matter Inuyasha?" asked Naraku, and not at all innocently. He looked like he could have laughed, if a man like Naraku was capable of such a thing. Perhaps he could do an evil laugh, but it didn't seem to be his style.

"Bastard," Inuyasha said, upon discovering that his mouth still worked. "You're a bastard and a liar!"

"Like I've said, I have no reason to lie to you. You're just in denial. It was foolish of you, to put so much faith in a human like that. What did you expect? Did you honestly think that girl would be able to free you from here?"

"No! I never once believed that and I never even cared! Just..seeing her was...enough..." Inuyasha's voice trailed off as he realized what he was saying. He immediately shut his mouth, but it was too late; the words had already been said.

"Ah, I see," Naraku sneered, "You're in love with the human girl."

Inuyasha glared at him for a moment, challenging words rising in his throat, but then those words died and he dropped his eyes to the floor. Who was he kidding? There was no point in arguing it. But why did it have to be _Naraku_ to be the one to say it? Why hadn't he admitted it to himself long before? It had been there for a while now. Not right away, but soon after, and growing each time he saw her. It had gnawed at him, constantly. Dreams of escape and revenge were replaced with dreams of simply being with Kagome. He had never felt that way before in his life, so he didn't know what to do or how to react. Realizing it and coming to terms with it seemed too hard. Naraku was right; he was in denial. And now, Naraku had made it worse by admitting it for Inuyasha before Inuyasha took the chance to admit it himself.

He was in love with Kagome.

He didn't know what to do about it.

And it hurt.

"I sincerely hope you don't think she feels the same way towards you." Naraku just had to keep talking. He just _had_ to make it hurt even more.

"That would be idiotic. Because obviously she doesn't. Hoping that she did, and then learning all of this...it would be major blow, wouldn't you agree? Oh, but look at you. You _were_ hoping she loved you back, weren't you? Poor Inuyasha. I'd say I feel your pain, but I'm not going to start lying to you now."

"_If_ she felt anything for you, it was pity," he said, venom dripping from his voice. There was a reflection of cruel amusement in those cold eyes. His cool and stolid posture never faltered, but he was clearly enjoying this. "After all, Inuyasha...you are just a _poor_..._dumb_..._animal_."

Each and every word hit Inuyasha like a ton of bricks. A ton of bricks with sharp, pointy knives sticking out of them. Naraku paused to check the time, then he pressed something on his desk. The door slid open, as well as the one in the lobby.

"I pity you as well," he continued. "That is why I have decided to give you a gift: the escape from this place that you so dearly desire. Yes, Inuyasha. In return for your seven years of service here, I am allowing you the gift of _death_."

"B-bastard!" was all Inuyasha could manage to shout in response. There were people in the lobby now; he could see them amassing just outside the office door. Big men, with a stretcher in tow.

"The final escape," Naraku said quietly, paying no attention to waiting men. "To end all your suffering. You see? Am I not a generous man? Your body will even be donated to science afterwards, so nothing shall go to waste."

As if on cue, the men entered the room. Inuyasha desperately tried to move his limbs, to escape. He was always trying to escape, wasn't he? It was second nature to him. And if there was ever a time to escape, it was _now_.

'_Come on, legs! Move dammit!' _He focused all his concentration on moving his legs. _'Move!' _

His left leg tingled, a jolt of feeling coming back to it. A small dash of hope shone through and Inuyasha almost thought, just for a spilt second, that he could do it.

Then the two men reached him, grabbed him by the arms, and pulled him up out of the chair. He went limp and would have fallen to the floor had he not been supported up his arms. He was still too numb to move much. The men dragged him out of the room like a ragdoll.

"Sonfabitch!" he yelled as they dragged him away. "You god damn sonfabitch! I'll kill you, Naraku! I will! Naraku!"

" Ah, now, there's no need to thank me," Naraku said lightly, practically gloating. "Believe me: _the pleasure is all mine._"

The Head's secretary returned from her break just in time to see Inuyasha being loaded and strapped onto the stretcher in the lobby. Oddly, the boy didn't seem to putting up a fight, even though an endless string of curses poured from his mouth. One of the men quickly gaged him to just shut him up. Then out the door they went, rolling the doomed halfling away.

The secretary, who had been silent up until that moment, blinked and leaned in the open doorway to the main office. Her master was still sitting behind his stately desk, looking the most smug she had ever seen him.

"I don't understand why you're disposing of that halfling," she said to him. "I thought he was important for your research. That's why he's been allowed to live so long, isn't it?"

"Yes, but his role in my researching is complete," Naraku replied, leaning back causally in his big chair. "There's nothing more I can learn from him, and I learned a great deal as it was. Keeping him alive now would just be a pointless risk, not to mention a waste of space."

"Hmmp. I guess your right. But what was with all the torturing? I didn't know you hated him so much."

"Who said I hated him?" Naraku said, smiling his un-smile.

"I just felt that I deserved to have a little fun today."

**--TBC--**

* * *

**(Omake React!)**

He was in love with Kagome.

He didn't know what to do about it.

And it took him eleven chapters to figure it out.

**Naraku: **I sincerely hope you know that you're mentally retarded.

**Inuyasha: **Go to hell.

**(Fin!)**


	14. Part Thirteen

**XIX.**

Inuyasha was slowly regaining feeling in his limbs. The numbness was finally fading away. He could even move all of his fingers.

Unfortunately, that was about all he could move. The rest of him of was fastened onto a table. There were straps over his legs, his wrists, and his waist, all buckled tightly. Obviously, it wasn't made for comfort. Inuyasha got the feeling it was because it wouldn't really matter in a few minutes anyway.

He knew where he was. It was the Clinic. He had been brought here on the day of his arrival, to get his shots and that god damn bar code marked into his shoulder. They often brought him there to take blood samples as well. It was a cold place, full of doctors, needles, and bad memories.

No one else was in the room with him. He couldn't see much from his position; just a lot grey and the blinding ceiling lights. With nothing else to preoccupy his mind, he vaguely began to wonder how they were going to off him. Would they suffocate him? Gas him? Or simply take a gun and shoot him in the head?

Movement at the door distracted him from his morbid thoughts. Someone entered and their shoes made a clacking noise as they moved across the tiled floor. Inuyasha lifted his head the best he could and tilted it to the side to get a look at the newcomer. It was a woman dressed in white, probably one of the doctors. She carried a tray with her that held several vials with unknown substances along with something silver and sharp, and placed it on a counter. Inuyasha realized what they were and thunked his head back down on the table.

Lethal injection. They were going to put him to sleep.

He tried to move again, but it was no use. The straps were just as bad as being numbed. Inuyasha was going nowhere.

"_The final escape. To end all your suffering."_

Why fight it? There was nothing he could do and maybe (as much he hated to admit it) Naraku was right. Maybe death was the only _true_ escape. Even if he had somehow managed to escape the Facility, where would he go and what would he do then? He was nothing and no one.

And he had nothing and no one.

His parents were dead. His brother abandoned him. He had no home, no family, no friends. He didn't even have Kagome anymore.

Funny. He was more upset over Kagome's betrayal than his own death sentence. Who knew that heartache could hurt so much?

From his short experience with it, Inuyasha deduced that Love really did bite. What was that old saying? "Only fools fall in love"? Well, he was definitely a fool. Probably the biggest fool of them all. He couldn't have helped falling in love with her, though. It was only to be expected. He had been locked up for years in a grey prison, devoid of hope, companionship, and happiness. Even if he had told himself he didn't, Inuyasha had longed for those things. Then Kagome came along and gave him them, and more. For the last two months, she was his friend, his hope, his life. She was thing he was always looking forward to. She was the one who showed him happiness. Of course he fell in love; what other choice was there? Even if there _was_ another choice, even if he wasn't imprisoned and he knew thousands of other people, Inuyasha would have _still _fallen in love with _her_. That's how bad he had it.

But Kagome hated him. Or she just didn't care about him anymore. Maybe both. Either way, she wasn't coming back. Whether he lived or died, he was never going to see her again.

That's what really took the fight out of him. He was never going to see Kagome again, so why did it matter? He had nothing else to look forward to, nothing else to make life worth living. So what if they killed him? It's not like things could get any worse than they were. Maybe it really would be the end to all his suffering.

Inuyasha hoped it was like sleeping. But without the bad dreams. He couldn't remember the last time he got a full, uninterrupted night's rest.

For a moment, the idea soothed him. _It won't hurt_, he told himself, over and over. _It will just be like sleeping_.

Another doctor came in, a man this time. He started flipping through papers on his clipboard while the woman doctor began preparing the equipment. Unable to speak or move, Inuyasha could watch with growing fear as they set about their task. His heart started to beat faster.

_It might just be like sleeping_, he thought, _But I'll never wake up._

Death _was_ an escape, he realized. It was the easy way out. He wasn't just scared of dying now, he being stubborn about it too. It was like giving up. Sure, his entire life had been a living hell and never promised anything better, but was that any reason to give up? If he died now, it would be the same as surrendering. Naraku would win.

Part of him wanted to die and now part of him didn't.

The woman doctor began swabbing his arm with alcohol, again reminding him that he really didn't have a say in the matter. The other one was busy hooking the cannula, a medical tube used to withdraw or insert fluids, to a machine that held the vials. He then attached a needle to the free end and handed it to his partner. After finding a suitable vein, she stuck the needle into Inuyasha's arm.

The three vials in the machine were the drugs, which would enter his bloodstream mechanically via the cannula. The first drug was only an anaesthetic, meant to keep him unconscious during the other two injections. The second one would stop all muscle movement except the heart, which would then be stopped by the third and final drug, thus killing him due to cardiac arrest. The whole procedure would only take seven minutes.

"You may make a final statement," the woman doctor said impassively, removing his gag.

"All right," Inuyasha said loudly, although his voice shook despite himself. "Go to hell."

The blank expression on the doctor's face didn't change. She simply scribbled something down on her clipboard and rejoined the other doctor by the machine. It was time.

Inuyasha started to hyperventilate as the heavy reality of it finally sank in. He was going to _die_. They were going to kill him, just like that. He couldn't get away. His heartbeat matched his fast breathing. There was no escape. He was going to die, he was going to die. . .

Then. . .his blood began to boil. He was angry at himself for being scared. He was even angrier at the doctors, and Naraku, for deciding to kill him. It was his life. Not theirs. _His. _What right they did have to control his life, and to decide when it should end? That should be his decision. If he wanted to die before his time, then he should decide it and he should be the one to do it. Not them. Not anyone. Just him. It was his. It was the only thing that belonged to him. _It was his life!_

A growl rose up in his throat.

He bared his fangs.

An animal roared.

Both doctors stopped what they were doing and whirled around. Both stood frozen with shock as a red-eyed Inuyasha ripped free of his straps, then jerked the needle right out of his arm. Both slowly backed away from him as he inched closer, teeth and claws exposed. Then the male doctor's fingers found the emergency button under the edge of the counter. He pressed it smoothly, hoping the motion would go unnoticed, but it didn't. For a split second, those burning red eyes met his. Panic suddenly swept through him, and he pushed his colleague aside to make a run for the door.

He was fast.

Inuyasha was faster.

The sirens came on right after the scream.

**XX.**

**forestspirit4: **What did Mushin say?

**godsgift2wmn: **um, nothing yet. he's still hung-over

**forestspirit4: **STILL?

**godsgift2wmn: **yup. sry. next time he's sober, I'll tell him.

**godsgift2wmn: **kagome? u there?

**forestspirit4: **Yeah, sorry. I'm just

**forestspirit4: **Nevermind.

**godsgift2wmn:** still can't get in, huh?

Kagome stared down at her keypad and sighed. She thought sharing her secret discovery would make it less a burden, but instead it just made her worry more. Did she do the right thing when she told Miroku? She hadn't meant to, but he had been getting so suspicious of her when she kept asking him for a new lockpick. He had refused to make her a new one until she had explained why she needed it.

And she really needed it. Her mother's ID card no longer let her get through the Facility's doors. And if that wasn't bad enough, it still let her mother in. It had to, because her mother went to work everyday with that very same card. There was only one logical reason that the ID card would specifically deny access to Kagome only.

Someone knew she had been sneaking in.

What this meant now, Kagome couldn't guess. It had been weeks, but nothing had happened to her yet. No one came to erase her memories or lock her up. She was just locked _out. _Night after night, she went to the Facility, and each time it refused to open its doors. Whatever this was, she didn't like it. She wanted to get back in. She needed to see Inuyasha.

With no one else to turn to, she had given in and told Miroku everything. For a last resort, it wasn't too bad. Miroku's guardian, Mushin, was a retired Reem councilman; that's why they moved back to Reem right before the war started. If Mushin believed their story, he could possibly send help. After all, he had connections. If the officials in Reem were informed about the Facility, they'd definitely would want to strike there and deal a heavy blow towards their enemy.

It was a long shot, but Kagome was running out of ideas _and_ hope. Telling Miroku hadn't reassured her or relieved her at all; she just felt bad and constantly worried that she pointlessly endangered more people by giving out that information. She was on edge now; someone knew she had been breaking in and they had locked her out. Not good. She worried for herself, for her family, for her friends, and Inuyasha...she worried about him the most.

_Ping!_

She forced her attention back on the computer, where a message from Miroku was flashing on and off impatiently for her attention.

**godsgift2wmn: **you're spazzing again, aren't u?

Kagome took a deep breath and tried to keep her hands steady as she typed.

**forestspirit4: **NNO! I'm fnie!

**godsgift2wmn: **are not. u just typo'd, and u never make typos. Look, kagome, just calm down. we'll figure sumthing out. and i'm sure your friend is OK. just hang in there. It will be all right.

**forestspirit4: **Yeah, I guess. Thanks Miroku. Well, I have to go now. Get back to me as soon as you tell Mushin, okay? Later.

She sent the message and went to close the program, but another ping stopped her.

**godsgift2wmn: **wait kagome!

**forestspirit4: **Yeah?

**godsgift2wmn: **will u bear–

**forestspirit4: **NO! Omfg, I can't believe you!

**godsgift2wmn: **hey, u didn't let me finish! I was going to say "bear with me here while i...um, something...

**forestspirit4: **Uh-huh, nice try. Good-bye Miroku.

Shaking her head, Kagome stood up from her desk and started to walk away.

"You know I was just kidding, right?" She gritted her teeth and slowly turned around. Plastered on her computer screen was Miroku's face, grinning sheepishly back at her.

"You need to loosen up a bit," he told her. "I know you're worried, but you're gonna give yourself a heart attack if you keep this up."

"I said _good-bye Miroku!_" With that, Kagome clicked the program off, closing Miroku's link before he could get another word in. She didn't want to talk about it anymore today, especially not with him.

Geez, how did Sango put with that guy anyway? He just had to hit on every girl he met. Men. What a bunch of brainless idiots. Miroku had commitment issues or something. Then there was that clueless guy from her school that just couldn't take a hint. And Inuyasha was the king of all jerks...

Inuyasha. She couldn't stop thinking about him. Or worrying. Did the person who knew she had been breaking in also know who she kept seeing? They might consider him an accomplice. Would Inuyasha get in trouble because of her? Was he okay? Was he even still alive?

'_No, no, no!' _Kagome hugged herself and shook her head. _'I can't think like that! He's perfectly fine. I have to stay positive, or else I"ll lose it. Miroku's right, I need to loosen up and stop worrying. So no more bad thoughts.'_

She inhaled and counted to ten to relax herself then, once she was steady, she left her room and headed downstairs. To keep from worrying if Inuyasha was all right, she wondered instead if he missed her. With him, who knew? Maybe he was glad she was gone. Or maybe he was angry at her for not coming in so long. She just hoped he didn't hate her. Once she got back in, she would explain everything...and apologize, for last time. She shouldn't have runaway from him that night. She felt terrible about it.

She _would_ get back in. Somehow, someway, she'd get back in and see him again.

Kagome stopped at the bottom of the stairs and reached into her pocket. She pulled her palm-com out and flipped in open to see the time: 2:47 PM. Time to head out and pick up the groceries. She closed the computer with a snap and dropped back into her pocket. Then she turned into the living room to find her brother.

"Hah! Hyah! Take that!"

Souta karate chopped his sister's arm.

"Ow! You little twerp!" She reached out and jerked the Virtual Reality Headset off her little brother, then flicked him in the head for rebuttal. "Be more careful when you're using this thing!"

"_Si-is_," the boy whined, drawing out the 'sis.' "You didn't let me save! And I was just about to beat a super hard boss too! I almost had him, but now I have to start all over again, thanks to you!"

"Stop whining," she said, unsympathetic to his loss. "You can play your video game later. We need to go pick up the groceries."

He moaned. "Why can't grampa go get them?" They both paused and looked over at the couch, where their grandfather was dead asleep, snoring loudly every other breath. Then they looked back at each other, and Souta hung his head in defeat.

"All right, all right, I'm going," he said, pulling off his VR gloves.

"It won't take long," said Kagome as she waited for him to put his shoes on. "Mom already ordered everything online last night. We just gotta pick it up. We'll be in and out in a snap, then we can came home and you can continue frying your brains out with your stupid VR game, okay?"

Souta gave his sister A Look, then wordlessly went back to tying his shoes at a purposely painfully slow pace. Kagome just sighed.

**XXI.**

The sky was grey.

Inuyasha was not pleased. Standing on the roof of a dilapidated, old building, he surveyed his surroundings. He was finally outside, but it looked it the same as the inside. There were no sounds, no colors, no smells. Just grey. Grey, grey, grey, everywhere grey!

He growled. It was just another cell. He escaped to just to be imprisoned again in a cold world of endless grey. Where was his freedom?

He glanced down at his hands. Red. The blood excited him. The sight of it, the smell...the hungry animal was thrilled by all the fresh blood. By his proof. The red was his proof: his life was _his_.

Somewhere inside of him, buried deep down, a small, dying voice wondered if this was right. It did _not _like the blood. It protested. But it was helpless. It couldn't be heard under the animal's triumphet roars.

It was gone.

Inuyasha could hear the commotion going on in the Facility not too far off behind him. It reminded him that he was still imprisoned and he needed to go. But not to escape. True freedom would not be obtained by running. He would have to make his freedom. He had to let everyone know.

There was too much grey. The animal longed for more red.

Eager, Inuyasha took off. He could cover all the grey with brilliant red.

**XXII.**

"I knew it!"

Bits of plaster billowed out like a dust cloud around Naraku's fist. He frowned and removed it from the wall. His secretary merely watched, looking bored.

"I knew I should have killed him sooner," he muttered, regaining his composure and wiping the plaster off his hand. "It was a mistake to let him live so long. A mistake that needs fixing, fast. This could very well ruin my plans. If he causes a scene out there. . .ah. I know. Get me the city council."

His secretary stood up, but hesitated, uncertain where this was going. "Sir?"

"_Now,_" he snapped at her.

"Yes, sir."

She scurried out of the room to make the call. Naraku sat down in his chair and folded his hands on his desk, momentarily deep in thought. So Inuyasha had escaped right before he was to be killed. What a nuance. The whole point of killing him was to keep this from happening and yet it happened anyway. He should have killed Inuyasha himself; you can't rely on humans to do the job right, apparently. Well, no matter. He was not about to let a rouge halfling ruin everything he had worked so hard for. He would simply have to make sure the job got done right this time.

"Head Comissioner Onigumo," said a crisp voice from behind. Naraku turned his chair around to face the giant LCD screen which was now displaying the face of an strict-looking old man. "I was informed that you requested an audience with me?"

"Ah, Councilman Patterson," said Naraku. "Yes, there's something urgent I need to discuss with you. I know that our contract states that the city itself is not responsible for my facility here, nor vice versa, but under certain circumstances I was wondering if a brief immunity to such contract might be allowed if ever a need arises–"

"Out with it man!" interrupted the impatient Councilman. "Just get to the point and tell me what's going on."

Naraku's polite smile did not falter and he continued evenly, "I may require some assistance from the city guard, sir. We have a situation. . ."

**XXIII.**

The sky was grey.

Kagome hoped it wouldn't rain. It was always hard to tell, though, in a city like Lenear. It could be storm clouds or could just be smog. Probably the latter, she hoped. The store wasn't that far away from their house, so they had walked instead of taking a shuttle, but it would be such a pain if it started raining on them.

She sighed sadly. It was such a drab day.

Walking a few steps behind her, Souta looked on at his older sister with concern. She hadn't been acting like herself lately and it worried him. He didn't like this funk she was in. He preferred her perky and cheerfulness more. What could he do to snap her out of it?

"I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves and this is how it goes," Souta suddenly burst into song, hoping that if he annoyed Kagome enough she would return to normal. It usually did the trick. "I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves! Oh, I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves. . ."

His voice trailed off when he realized he _wasn't_ getting on Kagome's nerves. She just kept walking silently, clutching the big bag of groceries in her arms and staring off into space. The response he had been expecting did not come; no response did.

Souta decided it was time to take things up a notch. He picked a new song he knew Kagome hated with a burning passion, then began singing it in the most loudest, obnoxious voice he could manage.

"Fighting eeevil by moonlight! Winning looove by daylight! Neveeer running from a real fight!"

People stared or raised their eye brows at Souta as they passed, but Kagome didn't even turn around.

"Please shut up, Souta," she said flatly. It was the most weak, depressingly pathetic 'shut up' Souta had ever heard in his life. It was like she said it automatically rather than to chose to say it with force and commandment. Usually she would threaten that if he didn't shut up, she'd rip his vocal chords out. So obviously, something was very wrong with his sister. Something terrible, if annoying her had no effect! And what good was a sister if you couldn't annoy her?

Souta vowed to get to the bottom of this and decided to switch to a more direct route, so he flat out asked her what was wrong.

"Nothing," she said, but Souta wasn't convinced.

"You've been moping around for days," he countered. "What happened? Did your boyfriend dump you or something?"

That seemed to get her attention and for a moment, Kagome almost came to a stop. But then she quickly regained herself and kept steadily on, still not looking back at her brother.

"I don't have boyfriend, Souta," she said evenly.

"Oh, please. I'm not stupid, you know. Who else would you keep sneaking out at night to see?"

A direct hit. Finally Kagome stopped walking and turned around.

"You know I've been sneaking out?" she asked anxiously. "For how long? Oh god, you didn't tell mom, did you?"

Inwardly, Souta laughed. He had been right; Kagome did have a boyfriend! Although he didn't understand why she was going out night to see him or why she was keeping it a secret. Unless, of course, there was some reason she wanted to keep it a secret. Maybe she thought their mother wouldn't approve? But that was silly; their mother was pretty accepting of people. She wouldn't care who Kagome was dating so as long as he was nice enough. Souta still hadn't told his mother about his sister's nightly escapades, of course. He told himself it was because he could eventually use it to blackmail her with, but in truth, Souta was just one of those rare "nice brothers" and didn't want to be tattle-tale.

"Don't worry, I won't tell her," he said earnestly. "But you need to stop being so depressed, Sis! Whoever dumped you is a jerk and he's not worth it. You need to cheer up some!"

"Well, he certainly is a jerk," she muttered. "Look Souta, you got it all wrong. I wasn't dumped. I didn't even have a boyfriend to dump me."

"Then what have you been doing then?" he asked. "Why are you–"

"It's none of your business, okay? It's nice that your concerned about me and all, but seriously, Souta, I'm fine. Now can we please get home, before it's starts raining on us?"

'_Fine? Yeah right,'_ Souta thought to himself as they started off again. _'And I'm the king of Tharris.' _

The two siblings walked in silence along the bustling streets of the city. Shuttles and hovercars zoomed by at tremendous speeds, crowds of people filled the walkways. rushing in all sorts of directions, and flashing signs and broadcasts popped up at every corner. Lenear was as fast paced and chaotic as ever. A little absently, Kagome wondered if Inuyasha would like it.

She had vaguely fantasized, on occasion, what might happen if she had ever overcome the Facility and all the captives were freed. The demons could be reunited with their families, if they had any. Those who didn't could be given new homes and people to care for them. Maybe little Shippo could even live with them for a while; surely her mom wouldn't mind? Heck, knowing her mother, all the orphaned demons could probably live them if there had been enough room. Inuyasha would have to stick around too; where else would he go? Then they could go to school together, and he could meet all her friends. . .and she could give him a tour of the city, and show him all the fun things he had missed for all those years, like movies and concerts and ice cream. . .

It was nice to think about it, but maybe it was just a pipe dream. Kagome sighed. Staying positive was easier said than done, especially in her position. She just felt so helpless. . .

"–from the city council with an urgent warning for all Lenear citizens." Losing her train of thought, Kagome paused and looked up curiously at the flashing news bulletin suddenly projected on the city walls. A business-type woman was shown looking sullen, and she continued with her report.

"We have just received word that a dangerous demon terrorist has escaped from an out posted prison and is running loose within the city limits. Our sources say that he is not sane of mind and may attack without warning. The criminal has last been spotted somewhere in the downtown area, where one eye witness was able to record him with their cell phone. We will now play that clip so that you may take note of the criminal's appearance–"

"Wow, he's sure is scary looking," Souta commented. Kagome didn't say anything, but just stared at the screen with her mouth wide open.

It was Inuyasha. For a brief moment, the camera had caught him head on, showing a close up of his face: jagged purple lines marked his cheeks and burning red eyes glared out at her from the screen, crazed and wild. Then he ran past and the clumsy camera followed as him as he zoomed through the city scape, accompanied with screams and gun shots, until he disappeared from view and the clip ended.

Kagome suddenly became immobile, frozen in place as she stared unblinkingly at the screen as it replayed the footage again and again. She didn't even notice as the bag of groceries slipped from her arms and spilled to the ground.

"Sis? Are you okay?" Souta asked worriedly, tugging at her sleeve. His voice broke her out of her trance and reality came rushing back. Kagome blinked and then suddenly started picking up their groceries, throwing them back into the bag in a hurried manner.

"Please do not panic," said the woman on the screen. "The City Guard has sent out to apprehend the criminal. Again, he has been last spotted in the downtown area. If you see the criminal, please report it immediately to 54-721-334 and do not attempt to approach him."

"I just remembered, Souta, there's somewhere I gotta go," Kagome said in a rush, thrusting the bag into his arms. "Go straight home and tell mom I'm at a friend's house if I don't get home in time, okay? Thanksseeyoulater!"

"W-wait! Sis! What's going on? Sis!" he called after her, but Kagome was speeding down the road like a track star, already too far away to hear him.

"Again, that number is 54-721-334. Please immediately report any sightings and do not attempt to approach the demon."

Was his sister nuts? There was an evil demon on the loose! Well, Souta didn't know about her, but _he_ was going home. He just hoped Kagome would be okay. Whatever she needed to do must have been important, though, for her to take off like that...

**XXIV.**

He was in pain. His legs ached from his constant moving and humans kept shooting at him, some getting in some hits. He was exhausted, but he wouldn't stop. He couldn't. The animal would keep fighting until all his enemies were killed...or until he was. There was no stopping now. He would keep fighting until the end.

He pushed his feet off of the ground and sent himself flying forward, dodging cars and people and bullets as he jumped from street to street. Then he came to an intersection as his feet dropped down to the pavement again. It wasn't nearly as crowded here, and the people who saw him immediately began running away in the opposite direction, some screaming in terror. This only tempted the animal more and his vision swirled with red as he looked on at the pathetic humans, scrambling away like tiny ants. He flexed his claws and licked his lips as readied himself to go again.

"Halt!" Something was jabbed roughly into his back. "City Guard! You are under arrest!" A lone policeman had snuck up behind him, but despite his bold words, he didn't sound so sure of himself. Inuyasha could practically taste his fear.

"Cease action and surrender yourself peacefully, or else I'll be forced to take–hughh!"

The man's eyes grew large with panic as he was lifted off the ground by his throat. When he began struggling for air, Inuyasha only closed his hand tighter.

"_My_ life," he roared at the choking man. "Mine!"

A tiny voice whispered, _What about _his_ life?_

He paused.

Then another voice shouted, "Inuyasha, stop!"

Caught off guard, Inuyasha let go of the man in surprise. The shaken man gasped for air, then scurried off as fast as he could while Inuyasha was distracted. Inuyasha heard him run, but he didn't stir. He was caught in a trance, staring at Kagome.

She was disheveled and out of breath, standing in the middle of the road some feet in front of him with uncertainty. She was obviously scared; he could smell her fear. She looked at him with wide eyes, then took a step forward.

He took a step back. The animal was urging him to continue, enraged at the sight of Kagome, but at the same time, her appearance had also revived something inside him that valiantly tried to fight back.

She came another step closer.

"Ka-Kagome!" His fists were clenched so tightly that his claws were digging into his skin, and he gritted his teeth when he spoke, as if it were painful to form words. "S-stay back! Get a-away f-from me!"

And another step.

"No!" she yelled, tears prickling in the corners of her eyes. "I'm not running away this time!"

She took yet another step, so that she was nearly right in front of him now, and tentatively reached a hand out towards him. "I know you're in there, Inuyasha," she said quietly. "You can do it. I know you can."

He bared his fangs and growled at her, but she stood her ground. Kagome was brave to trust in him, but she was wrong; he couldn't do anything. He wasn't in control. He had willingly let himself go wild, become nothing more than a ravage animal, and now the person he cared most about in the world was going to pay for it.

His vision blurred red and he raised his claws to strike. . .

Kagome didn't flinch. She didn't move at all. She just stood there, looking sad but determined, still holding out her hand to him. She looked right at him which such an intensity that it felt as if she were looking into his soul.

_Strike! _The command had been given, but Inuyasha held back, his raised arm shaking tremendously as he fought for inner control over himself. But a surge of blinding rage swept through him and the claws suddenly swiped forward.

_No! _

The claws stopped, just centimeters short from her face. Kagome drew a sharp intake of breath but otherwise did not move. She swallowed and watched silently as his sharp claws hovered indecisively in front her.

_No._

Growling with effort, Inuyasha forced his hand down. It finally dropped to his side and suddenly, the red cleared away and there was Kagome, unharmed. Inuyasha was shaking and breathing heavily, as if he had just fought a great battle, but all the wild rage that had been tormenting him had finally been drained away. He was Inuyasha again, the animal now gone. Somehow, Kagome had tamed it.

Arms suddenly embraced him and Inuyasha looked down, surprised to see Kagome sobbing into his shirt and hugging him tightly. It was the most surreal thing he felt that entire day, out of everything. Maybe he was dead after all, because there was no way. . .

A little hesitantly, as if he was worried she would disappeared into thin air, Inuyasha wrapped his arms around her and gently hugged her back. "I'm so sorry," he whispered sadly into her hair. Kagome pulled back a little and looked up at him.

"It's okay," she said, smiling happily through her tears. "I knew you wouldn't hurt me."

But it wasn't okay. Inuyasha would be forever content if he could just keep holding her in his arms, but he knew things were not okay yet; there was still so much...

"Kagome, I–"

"Halt!" The loud voice cut through the air, shattering their private moment and making them turn their head in surprise. "We have you surrounded!"

The man with the megaphone wasn't kidding. A dozen or more city guardsmen surrounded them in a circle. Their guns were raised and aimed directly at the them. With growing alarm, Inuyasha remembered the man he had nearly choked to death.

Apparently, he had called for back up.

**--TBC--

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**

**A/N: **Wow, that only took me **forever** to write! xD But lookit! It's over **5,000** words long! Aren't you **so excited**? I'm excited. This baby's almost finished! There is an estimated **two** chapters left for this story. Oh yeah, I'm so kicking butt! **Wootcha**!

On **another** note, I'd like to apologize for how** preditable this chapter** was. Yes, it was very remeniscient of what happens **a lot** in the actual series. But hey, that's why I made it an **AU** in the first place; otherwise _nothing_ would be different! **xP** Besides, I was never really good at plot twists anyways... Also, a special thanks goes to wikipedia(dot)come for telling me in detail **how a lethal** injection is performed. Even though **it was just a** little scene, if you knew how squeamish I am, you'd **be proud**, lol.

Well, you guys **know** the drill: read, review, and send me ten thousand dollars. Also, because this chapter is so long (and because I am so easily bored) there is a **special omake** extra following this author's note** for any you** who don't have time **to read** the whole thing. xD

I'm brining sexy back,

**Z**ana

PS-Them other boys don't know how to act! Yeah! _Take it to the bridge!

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_

**(Omake React!) (Part 13, the Short Verison)**

**XIX.**

**Doctor A: **You may make a final statement.

**Inuyasha: **Um, before we start, I have to go the bathroom. Could you please untie me so I can go real quick? I'll come right back.

**Doctor A: **Nice try.

**Inuyasha: **(But I really do have to pee!)

The doctors start up the machine and Inuyasha gets to thinking. It's his life! Not theirs! He should be the one who decides if he can go to the bathroom or not! Those assholes! Now he's _really angry_.

**Doctor A: **Um, Doctor B...

**Doctor B: **What? -turns around-

**Inuyasha: **HULK SMASH!

**Doctor B's Famous Last Words: **Oh shii--!

**XX.**

**Miroku: **lol i rox at da l33t spk!!1!

**Kagome: **Please go away, perv.

Kagome turns the computer off and goes downstairs.

**Souta: **Judo CHOP!

**Kagome: **-censored-!

**XXI.**

The sky is grey. Everything is grey. Lots and lots of grey.

**Inuyasha: **Nuuuuu, I'm color blind!

Inuyasha discovers the color red, the only color he can apparently see anymore. So he decides to paint the town red.

**Inuyasha: **Time to go on a killing spree! Yay!

**XXII.**

**Naraku: **Crap! -punches wall-

**Wall:** Ow! My spleen!

**Naraku: **He conviently escaped at the very last minute! I so totally didn't see that coming! That's it, get me the council dude!

**Secretary: **Um?

**Naraku: **On the double!

**Secretary: **SAH, YES SAH!

**XXIII.**

The sky is still grey. Kagome is teh sad.

**Souta:** (Poor sis. I must cheer her up!)

**Souta: **I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves, and this is how it goes: _Me and my gang, we live, to rock! We rock, to live! Yeah! Me and my gaaaang!_

**Kagome: **AHH, MY EARS!

**TV Woman: **Inuyasha has rabies and is running wild downtown! Kagome, do not approach him or he'll rip your head off!

**Kagome: **Hmm, I think I'll go downtown. Later!

**Souta: **I hope sis will be okay. I'm not sure why, but I have this feeling she's gonna get her head ripped off...

**XXIV.**

**Inuyasha: **Rawr.

**Copper: **HALT!

**Inuyasha: **Screw you! -chokes copper- My life, dude, mine!

**Bon Jovi: **_It's my life! Oh it's now or never! I ain't gonna live forever! I just wanna live my life alive!_

**Jiminy Cricket: **What about his life, dude?

**Bon Jovi: **_It's his life! Oh it's now or never! He ain't gonna--_

**Kagome: **Inuyasha, SIT! (Oh shit, that doesn't work in this one, does it?)

**Inuyasha: **Everyone, shut the hell up! -drops copper- Okay. Kagome, run away before I rip your head off.

**Kagome: **Never!

**Inuyasha: **Rawr.

Inuyasha almost rips Kagome's head off, but Jiminy Cricket, Bon Jovi, and Captain Planet (?!) join forces and save Inuyasha from himself. Then Inuyasha and Kagome hug.

**Readers: **Awwww.

**Lots of Coppers: **HALT! NO PDA ALLOWED!

**Inuyasha: **(God dammit, why does this happen every fricking chapter?)

**The Copper Who Almost Died: **Haha, you just got served!

**(FIN!)**


	15. The Last Part

**A/N: **Here it (**finally**) is! The chapter you've all been waiting for! (Since the last one.) I hope you **enjoy it**. (You probably won't.) I worked real hard on it. (**And by hard,** I mean really, really slowly while** simutanelousy pl**aying Tertis online.)

I have a feeling **some of you** won't like how it turns out and I **apologize** ahead of time. Some of you will be crushed, I'm sure,** but that's **just the way it is. I'm the **author**, so I call the shots and I** can't please everyone**.

**By the way**, don't let the chapter title **fool **you! This is the last part, yes, **but it's not the end.** We still have an **aftermath** to get through first! So please stick around for** the part after the last part!** _Then_ you can celebrate.

Suffering from carpal tunnel,

Za**na**

**PS**- I still hate the way Naraku talks. Why do all my villians end up so lame..?

PSS- **Thanks** for all the support, readers! **Cookies for everyone!**

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**XXV.**

"By ordinance of Lenear City, you are under arrest."

Inuyasha tensed and Kagome stared around with wide eyes at the ring of city guardsmen that enclosed them.

"Release the girl immediately and put your hands where we can see them."

For once, Inuyasha was willing to do what he was told. They thought he was keeping Kagome hostage; if he played along, she could get away safely and escape. He started to pull away from her, but apparently, Kagome was not happy with this new plan. She instead tossed a glare to guardsmen and just clung tighter to Inuyasha. When it came down to it, Kagome was just as stubborn as he was.

"As you can clearly see, the girl is not being held against her will." The voice, along with the sharp, familiar scent, snapped Inuyasha to attention. "She is, in fact, an accomplice of the demon and a conspirator against our nation," said Naraku, standing causally behind the city guard chief. "Do not let her youth deceive you; we have hard evidence of her treachery. She is a proven traitor, working for the enemy. It was she who freed the demon terrorist in the first place. They're working together."

Lies. One of Naraku's most powerful weapons, Inuyasha realized. He fed people lies and they devoured them as though they were starving. He _wasn't_ human and he _wasn't_ on their side, but Inuyasha knew it would be no use trying to explain that to anyone. Not only was Naraku a liar, he was a skilled one as well. Everyone _believed_ what he told them, without question. Even Inuyasha himself had fallen for it when Naraku had told him that Kagome had abandoned him. Like an idiot, he had believed him and given up so _easily_...

With Kagome now in his arms, standing by him even then, he knew with absolute certainty what was true and what was not.

After all, you don't put your life in danger just for pity.

"It is also no longer necessary to bring them in alive," Naraku added with cool malice. "It has been cleared by the city council. They're too dangerous. An immediate end to their terror spree is all that's required, no matter the methods. Since you finally have them cornered, I suggest you fire now, before anymore damage is done."

Rage stirred in Inuyasha. He could give in to his inner beast and unleash that power upon them, take each and every guard out before they could fire a single shot, then run his claws through right through Naraku like he so dearly desired. He flexed his claws with anticipation; it would be so easy...

"Don't," Kagome whispered, gripping his arm. The rage died down in an instant and Inuyasha clenched his fists with a sigh. But he was grateful for Kagome. He didn't want to become that..._animal_...again. Only as a very last resort. There had to be another way.

"Ready," shouted the chief.

A dozen or so red dots appeared on the two huddled in the middle of the street as the guardsmen aimed their laser targeted weapons. Kagome bit back a cry and buried her face in Inuyasha's shirt, holding onto him tighter than ever. Looking over her shoulder at the armed men and the smug Naraku, Inuyasha was struck with the unfairness of it all. And not just to him; if there was one to ever suffer a crueler fate than his, it was Kagome. All she had ever wanted to do was help. She wasn't guilty of anything but that. And through all her efforts and goodwill, this was how she was being repaid? By being executed?

It wasn't fair that Inuyasha had been kidnaped all those years ago. It wasn't fair that he had been locked up simply because of what he was. It wasn't fair that his brother had left him there. It wasn't fair that he had been subjected to horrible experiences, treated worse than a lab rat. It wasn't fair that he had been deprived of his freedom, of his life. But out of all of that, the thing that really got to him, the thing that was the most unfair in the world, was that Kagome's fate had been so pointlessly thrown in with his.

It. Wasn't. _Fair_.

"Naraku!" he suddenly shouted. "If you want to take my life so badly, then fine! You can have it! Just leave Kagome alone! She didn't do anything. Let her go!"

The guardsmen hesitated at this outburst, their fingers hovering uncertainly above the triggers. Naraku, however, remained firm. He focused his piercing cold eyes on Inuyasha with hatred.

"I cannot allow either of you to live," he said. To the guardsmen, Naraku was simply stating a fact; they were terrorists and thus were going to get the capital punishment for it. But Inuyasha understood what Naraku really meant; they knew too much. He wanted them silenced.

It looked like he was going to get his way.

"Fire!"

At the same time they fired, Inuyasha, taking a spur of the moment chance, lifted Kagome up into his arms and jumped. This wasn't going to end well, he knew. He had enhanced strength compared to that of a normal human and could jump at amazing heights, but the added weight of Kagome would hinder him. Plus the guns were high tech, long range weapons; they would be easy targets. Unless he moved fast, it was going to be like shooting fish in a barrel.

Some feet away, he touched ground and pushed off again, with Kagome holding off a scream as they flew up into the air once more. Bullets soon followed after them in rapid fire succession, one even grazing Inuyasha's right shoulder. He ignored it and was glad even, that it hit him instead of Kagome. They flew to a second story awning jutting out from one of the buildings and as soon as they reached it, Inuyasha jumped again, soaring even higher.

"Hang on tight, Kagome!" he advised.

"No shit!" she yelled, wrapping her arms around his neck and closing her eyes. Bullets flew past, dangerously close, and she silently wondered which was worse: being filled with holes or splattering on the hard ground so far below. _At this rate, I'll probably get to experience both, _she thought.

Something wet hit her cheek. It was then that Kagome experienced one of the strangest things in her life. There was she was, in the arms of a halfling, some eighty feet in the air and rising, with bullets chasing after them, her life in perilous danger...and for a moment, all she could think about with, sharp clarity, was whether or not a bird flying overhead had just peed on her face.

She cracked her eyes open. This was a mistake; when she saw the buildings rushing by, the reality of the situation crushed her with fear. She was extremely high up in the air and there was a good chance that she would soon fall back down, possibly being hit by passing hovercars and/or bullets along the way to her bone-shattering death. When gravity kicked in and they began to lose altitude, Kagome understandably assumed that her life was now coming to an end and she did what any normal person in such a circumstance would do: she screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Stop screaming in my ear!" Inuyasha yelled irritably as they touched back down again, ran a few feet, then leapt into the air once more. Kagome, who had just been anticipating her death, blinked in surprise at how easily Inuyasha had returned them skywards. Dropping back down to the earth from such a height must have a put a strain on him; usually, when normal people descend from that height and at that speed, they don't land on their feet and take off again. Of course, she had to keep in mind that Inuyasha wasn't, by any means, a _normal _person.

Her panic momentarily subsided, Kagome finally realized that a slow drizzle of precipitation was the source of the wetness on her face: the coming rain she had been wanting to avoid earlier that day. It might have been her imagination, but the grey rain clouds looked unbelievably close. She promptly shut eyes her again and held onto to Inuyasha for dear life, quite literally.

Inuyasha, who wasn't bothered at all by this mode of transportation, duly noted that the higher they went, the less bullets that followed. A dash of hope stirred in his chest; maybe, just maybe, they could lose their pursers. However, they would need to stay in the air to do so. Going back down was too risky. There was no guarantee that he would always be able to propel them back up.

For the first time in his life, he wished he had been born a winged demon. It would have made things so much easier. Instead, Inuyasha had to make due with what he could. This time, when gravity pushed him unwillingly downwards, he leapt off the ground at an angle, hurling them to the left. After nearly being run over by a startled car, which just barely managed to brake in time, they flew directly towards the skyscrapers lined up on that side of the street. It was a long shot, but luckily, his feet gained purchase on the wall of one the buildings and he pushed off that, sending them flying upwards and across the street. On the ground below, a crowd of people pointed and watched in amazement as Inuyasha leapt from building from to building in this zig-zag pattern, taking them even higher and higher up.

Kagome was struggling not to scream while Inuyasha was struggling not to drop her. The frenzy of shouts and firing guns had finally ceased, so he assumed that, for the moment at least, they had gotten away. He aimed for one of the smaller skyscrapers, one on the right where they could land on the roof for a rest.

For a second, Inuyasha worried that his last jump hadn't been powerful enough and they weren't going to make it, but they managed. As soon as he landed on the roof, his knees buckled and they both fell down. Kagome opened her mouth to scream but she opened her eyes first and she realized she wasn't falling to her death after all. Inuyasha, who was panting heavily, pulled himself to his feet and helped Kagome back to hers. His whole body ached and Kagome was shaking nonstop. Slow, soft rain dripped from the grey sky above.

After regaining his breath, Inuyasha asked Kagome if she was all right.

"A-are you kidding?" she asked. Her voice shook when she spoke and she looked about ready to cry.

"Are you hurt?" he tried again, rephrasing his question. She shook her head.

"Good." He looked down at his right shoulder, miraculously the only placed he had been wounded in. A tear in the cloth revealed a small, red scratch in his skin, accompanied by a thin stream of blood oozing across the black lines of the bar code that had been tattooed to his shoulder so many years ago. The bullet had only nicked him, so it wasn't serious. Something still bothered him, however. When the scent of his blood reached his nose, he also noticed a hint of something metallic. Ripping his right sleeve off entirely, he investigated his shoulder. He wiped the blood off with his finger and held it up to his eyes.

Just barely, he could see tiny flecks of silver in the blood. He narrowed his eyes, understanding. Kagome, watching from a few feet away, gasped when he suddenly swiped his left hand at his own shoulder, his claws tearing through the area of where the bar code was located. Angry red lines swelled and blood flowed down his arm. He raked at his shoulder again. With a cry, Kagome ran forward and held back his arm to stop him from continuing this self-mutilation.

"Stop it!" she said, as he tried to pull his arm free. "Don't do that! What's wrong with you?"

"Arrg, leggo of me!" He jerked his arm out of her hands and took one more quick slash at his shoulder, only wincing slightly at the pain. "Geez, Kagome, have a heart attack why don't ya? I had to do that, all right? I think the ink of my bar code was loaded with tracers. Makes sense. If I hadn't scratched it off, hunting me down would be a synch. So stop spazzing on me, will ya?"

"But you're bleeding," she quietly pointed out. His shoulder was now laced with claw marks, the skin cut up so badly that no trace of the bar code could be distinguished. Inuyasha examined it, appearing satisfied when the blood flowing from the cuts no longer carried any silver flecks.

"I'm fine."

Kagome bent over and picked up the discarded sleeve. She tore it down the middle then reached out and held Inuyasha's right arm up. He stared in surprise at his sudden obedience and experienced a bit of deja vu. Kagome began to tightly wrap the shreds of shirt around his cuts, tying the ends together in a knot and making sure it was firmly in place.

"There. That'll keep pressure on it, to stop the blood."

"I said I'm fine," he gruffly reminded her. She looked up from his makeshift bandage and glared at him.

"Well, I'm not!" she said angerily. "Give a girl a warning next time you to try something stupid like that. You scared me, Inuyasha. What if you had hit a major blood vessel? You could have bled to death, dummy!"

"Feh. You worry too much."

"Well, one of us has to," she snorted. "With the way you behave, I'm surprised you've managed to make it this far without someone to take care of you, since you obviously can't do it yourself."

"Hey," he growled. "I'm perfectly fine on my own, thank you very much. Speaking of which, by the way, where the _hell_ were you these last few weeks? Did I make you mad or something?"

"You're always making me mad," she huffed, but her anger quickly deflated. "But no, that wasn't it. I kept trying to get back in, but for some reason, the doors would never open for me. I...I think someone might have found out."

"Yeah," he said. Naraku. That bastard...the next time they met, Inuyasha swore he was going to kill him.

"I was really worried, you know," Kagome added, now staring down at her feet. "But now you're finally out of that place. Heh, I guess you were right. I do worry too much and you can take care of yourself after all."

Inuyasha didn't reply and he had a far off look in his eyes. Kagome was unsure what to say next, so she turned away and they lapsed into silence. Cautiously, she inched to the edge of the roof and looked down. There was only a little, two inch high border separating her from a three hundred foot high drop. She immediately jumped back with a yelp. Inuyasha looked at her with interest.

"Afraid of heights?" he teased.

"It's not so much as heights that scare me that it is falling from them," she said, backing carefully away from the edge. They both smiled at each other briefly, but then fell back into silence for a few more minutes.

Finally, Inuyasha turned to her and said, "We need to get going again, before they catch up. Tell how to find your house and I'll drop you off."

Kagome looked confused.

"Drop me off? Inuyasha, I can't go back home; I'm wanted now, too, remember? That's the first place they'll look for me. And I don't want to put my family in danger."

"Damn. This is all my fault," he heavily sighed. "Well, where else can I take you where you'll be safe? Someplace you can hide until this blows over."

"I'm going with you," she replied in a matter-of-fact tone. Judging by the look on Inuyasha's face, it was pretty clear that he didn't like that idea at all.

"No way," he said. "You are _not _going with me. Are you out of your fricking mind? I don't even know where I'm going! Besides, don't you think you're in enough trouble as it is?"

"It can't get any worse," she said.

"Kagome..." He looked down at his hands. The rain had washed most of it away, but there was and would always be blood on his hands. There would always be a monster lurking inside him, waiting for a chance to get out.

"When I was escaping, I hurt a lot of people," he said solemnly. "I probably even killed some of them. Doesn't that bother you?"

"A little," she said truthfully. "But it was either them or you and I'd rather have you. It's not your fault."

"You don't get it Kagome!" he shouted. "It wasn't just them; I almost hurt you too! There's no telling when something like that might happen again. It's too dangerous for you to even be around me!"

"That's not true," she said. "I know you, Inuyasha. I have faith in you."

"Then you're an idiot," he snapped, stomping off to the opposite side of the roof from her, so he could vent out his frustration. Why, _why_ did she have to be so god damn stubborn? Admittedly, he wanted to take her with him too, but he knew better than that. He couldn't be selfish this time around; there was too much at stake. Like Kagome's safety. Her life was too important to let his stupid feelings get in the way.

Across the roof, Kagome crossed her arms and turned her back to him, even though it meant looking at the vast city stretched out so far below. Why was he always so fricking stubborn? She wanted to go with him and she had to go with him. It was the only option. Besides, she wasn't scared. She still held firmly onto her belief that Inuyasha would never hurt her...

'_This really isn't a good time to give me the cold shoulder. And he says _I'm_ an idiot?'_

...not physically, anyway.

There was a soft clicking noise, breaking her train of thought and Kagome looked to her left, where the door to the roof was located. Uh oh. She blanched; someone was coming up!

**XXVI.**

Slowly and quietly, the door inched open and a man emerged.

He had long black hair, cold eyes, and was dressed in a white trench coat. Kagome stared at him with shock; she had seen this man before. He was the man with the city guard, the one who had ordered their deaths. He turned to her with a cruel smile on his face and took a step forward. She almost took a step back, but remembered just in time to stop herself from going over the edge. She was trapped.

The blood drained from Inuyasha's face when the scent finally reached his nose. He whirled around and sure enough, there was Naraku. He had one arm wrapped around Kagome's neck, pulling her close to him at the edge of the roof. She whimpered and tried to break free, but Naraku's grip was too strong. Inhumanly strong.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha immediately started forwards, but he jerked to a halt when Naraku reached into his coat pocket with his other arm and pulled out a gun. Kagome went deathly still when the cold metal was pressed against her skull.

"I've grown tired of this game," said Naraku, with an annoyed look on his face. "Enough is enough. It's time to end this."

"Let her go," Inuyasha growled, fighting the urge to rush forward and strike Naraku down, which wasn't easy. But he had to be tactful. The coward was using Kagome as a shield. Inuyasha couldn't risk attacking him right then; he might hit Kagome too or, more likely, Naraku would pull the trigger as soon as he made a move.

"I believe we've already been through this," he replied cooly. "Neither of you can be allowed to live and I'll make sure that you won't. Enough damage has already been done and I am quite displeased.

However, if it's any consolation to you, Inuyasha," he sneered, "Originally, only you were going to die. The girl was to be monitored but otherwise left alone. Of course, there was a change of plans when you escaped. Had you just accepted your death, this poor girl would have been spared. Now it's far too late, I'm afraid."

For once, Inuyasha was left speechless. The expected curse or retort did not come. Ironically, it wasn't so much the shock that it was guilt.

Kagome did not say anything either. She was shaking too much and breathing in big, heavy gasps. She was trying to think of a plan, a way out, something she could do, but with a loaded gun pointed at her head, it wasn't surprising that she was having a bit of trouble concentrating.

If anything, Naraku was only enjoying this. Getting back at them like this was almost worth all the pain and trouble they had caused him. Doing it personally made it all the better.

"Don't get any ideas," he told them. "You both are going to die now, no matter what. Oh, do stop crying Miss Higurashi. It's unfortunate you got mixed up in this, but it can't be helped. Ah, I know! How about this? To make it up to you, I will let you decide who I shall kill first: you, or the mangy halfling?"

Kagome gulped. She had to do something. Inuyasha looked ready to go, but she knew it would be no good. He was fast, but not faster than a bullet. Not at this range. He himself could escape; there was nothing stopping _him_ from hopping to the next building over and making a run for it. She desperately wanted to tell him that, but her throat had closed up. Besides, she figured Inuyasha wouldn't leave without her. Which just meant that they were both going to die.

"If you don't decide soon, I will myself," Naraku said. Kagome's mind raced.

"So, who will it be first?" he asked. "You or him?"

"H-Him," Kagome sobbed, avoiding Inuyasha's eyes.

"How pleasantly unexpected." He smiled and moved the gun from Kagome's head to Inuyasha's direction. "Not that it really matters; you'll follow right after you watch him die. Heh. So long, Inuyasha."

He pulled the trigger.

At the very same time, Kagome, with all her strength, thrust herself backwards.

Then several things happened at once, in a matter of mere seconds.

Naraku, because he was holding onto to Kagome, was also jerked backwards. The gun fired up in the air, completely missing Inuyasha. Both Kagome and Naraku went over the edge of the roof. Naraku, in his surprise, lost his hold on Kagome as they fell.

Inuyasha immediately sprang forward, moving possibly the fastest speed he ever had. He leapt right off the building, with his arms out, after Kagome.

He caught her.

Naraku continued to fall.

They sailed across the gap and over to the next building.

Naraku fired the gun repeatedly as he went, but without success.

The gap was too big. Inuyasha attempted to throw Kagome to make sure she made it and she hit the roof, hard. Inuyasha made it to the very edge, his claws sliding across the metal as he tried to hold on.

Naraku plummeted downwards, his lips pressed into a thin line and his eyes narrowed. Along the way down, he simply thought to himself. _'Next time, Inuyasha, you will not be so lucky...'_

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried, snatching him by the arms right before he slipped off and shared Naraku's fate. She pulled him up and helped him to his feet, safely away from the edge. He immediately went back to it, however, squinting his eyes downward and sniffing the air. Then he pulled back, and cursed.

"Dammit!" he yelled. "That coward!"

"H-huh?"

"That wasn't the real Naraku! It couldn't be. I don't know how to explain it, but I think that was only a part of him that he was controlling. Now he's disappeared completely. There's no trace of him. Which means that bastard's still alive! And you!" he shouted, now directing his anger at Kagome. "I can't believe you!"

"Inuyasha, I'm so sorry!" she said. "I didn't want to pick you, but that was the only chance I had to get him to move the gun! I know it was risky and it put you in danger, but I didn't know what else to do to stop him!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" he said, taking her by surprise. "I don't care about that! I'm pissed off because you threw yourself off a building! It was bad enough you were being held at gun point, but to jump off a roof too? That scared the shit out of me, Kagome! What the hell were you thinking?"

She stared at him with shock. Did he really care about her, that much? As much she cared about him? This was Inuyasha, after all. She never thought he cared too much about anything, even himself. It was always so difficult to tell how he felt.

"I-I was thinking," she said slowly, "I was thinking that it wouldn't make any sense for both of us to die. Not when I could take that guy down with me instead. That way, at least you'd still be alive."

"It wouldn't matter that I was alive if you were dead!" he blurted out angerily. His face turned red and he quickly turned away, crossing his arms over his chest. He recovered and added bitterly, "You said I can't take care of myself, but I'm starting to think that describes _you_ better. It's okay if_ I'm_ reckless. I'm just a worthless halfling with nothing going for me. But you! You have a family and friends and a life, Kagome! And you were just going to throw all that away for nothing?"

"Of course not!" she said loudly. She grabbed him by the arm and pulled him around so that they were facing each other. It could have just been the rain, but he was pretty sure she crying again.

"You're not nothing, Inuyasha," she said, quietly this time and looking him straight in eye. "You mean a lot to me, okay? And this whole time, ever since we first met, I've felt so useless because I couldn't find a way to help you, or to help anyone! Everyday I would go home so frustrated because there wasn't anything good I could do. So today, just now...I saw my chance to change that and I took it. I thought I was going to die anyway, so I figured some good might as well as come out of it."

Inuyasha's expression softened and he almost looked sad.

"Feh. You really are an idiot," he said. "To feel that way. Of course you helped me! The fact that you tried was more than enough. And earlier today, if it wasn't for you...who knows what might have happened to me? Everything good that's ever happened to me lately, I owe to you, Kagome. Nothing good would have come out of your death, so stop talking like that."

Kagome looked up at him uncertainly, then rubbed the tears from her eyes and smiled.

"Inuyasha?"

"What?"

"Could you lean forward a little please?" she asked. "There's something I've been wanting to do for the longest time but couldn't, until now."

"Um," was Inuyasha's reply as he hesitantly did what he was asked. His face was now just inches away from her's and an uncomfortable shade of red. She smiled and reached out a hand towards his head...

"They're so adorable!" she cried, her fingers pinching one of his ears and wiggling it back and forth.

"H-Hey!" Inuyasha quickly jerked his head back and grabbed the offended ear with a look of shock. "Leave the ears alone, dammit! I'm not some pet! Geez!"

When she started to laugh, he scowled and reached out to grab one of _her_ ears.

"Ow! Okay, Inuyasha! Hahaha, I get it! Ha, let go!" She rubbed her ear and continued laughing. Inuyasha allowed himself a small smile. He really liked hearing Kagome's laugh. It was such a pleasant sound.

"Haha...ah," Kagome grinned and swallowed the last of her giggles. "I guess we better get going now, huh? I wanna get going before someone _else_ shows up with a gun, don't you?"

Inuyasha's smile faded.

"You're not going with me," he said firmly. Kagome, still feeling lighthearted, just rolled her eyes.

"Of course I am," she said. "Where else would I go? Don't even try to argue with me, Inuyasha. I going to stay with you, no matter what. Besides, you're the one who told me to do whatever the hell I want, remember? You said if I decided to get involved, there was no turning back. You were right. I'm involved now, so I'm afraid you're stuck with me."

Inuyasha opened his mouth, then shut it again, at a loss of what to say with his own words fired back at him. He hated it, but she did have point. He _did_ remember saying that. He had warned her from the very beginning, didn't he? And yet here she was.

So, technically, it was actually _her_ fault for not listening to him in the first place. He couldn't help it if Kagome wanted to get herself in trouble. That was her choice. There's was nothing he could do about that.

What he could do, though, was protect her. She had put herself in a lot of danger just to help him, so the least he could do was the same for her. A part of him still didn't like this, not one bit. But there was nothing to be done except to keep her safe.

It looked like he had to change his plans. After realizing the Naraku they encountered was just a mimic and the real one was still alive somewhere, Inuyasha was determined to hunt Naraku down and get his revenge. Now that would have to wait for another time. Kagome came first. They needed to leave, fast, and go somewhere far away, away from the city. He just didn't know where.

Kagome silently watched him as he seemed to be debating something in his mind. She had a feeling that he was going to still say no about her going with him, so she started preparing her counter-argument. But then, to her complete and utter surprise, Inuyasha simply asked her which way they should go. He looked a bit put off but not refusing.

"You mean you're really going to let me go?" she asked, not believing her ears. She had expected it to be much harder than this.

"I don't want to," he grumbled. "But it's not like you leave me much of a choice. So where are we going already? I've been locked away too long to remember where anything is, so you'll have to navigate."

She smiled.

"Okay. I think I know of a good place where we'll be welcomed, and it's not too far from here. Oh, but Inuyasha?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm so going to kill you if you drop me."

He smiled.

"Stop worrying so much..."

**--TBC--**


	16. The Part After the Last Part

**XXVII.**

The sky was blue.

It was strange to think that it was the very same sky that hung above Haden, but it was. It was all one sky, but it was so very different here. There were only fluffs of white clouds that day, floating lazily along the brilliant blue sky like bits of cotton. Inuyasha had never seen such a perfect and beautiful piece of sky.

It was peaceful, unlike the previous week.

After reaching the outskirts of Lenear City, Inuyasha switched from carrying Kagome in his arms to carrying her on his back and they continued onwards, Kagome directing him in which way to go. They managed to escape Lenear without further conformation, but apparently, word about them had spread to the other cities. It took an extra two days for them to travel across that corner of the country because of the frequent stops and detours they had to take to avoid capture. They ate whatever they could find, which was sometimes nothing. They took turns sleeping during the day, so one could stand watch, and they moved at night. Inuyasha was determined to cover as much distance as he fast as he could and many times Kagome had to beg for him to stop and rest himself. In between cities, she tried to convince him that they could just walk.

On the morning of the fourth day, they reached the border. Ironically, that had been the hardest part of their journey, because many of the battles took place on the border. The two armies were evenly matched and the battles were dangerous and deadly. To stay out of the crossfire, they kept traveling alongside the border, looking for a breach where they could pass safely into Reem.

They found one in the form of an abandoned battlefield. The region had been reduced to a crater marked wasteland, filled with countless dead soldiers from both sides. The stench of blood, death, and rotting corpses was so overwhelming it brought Inuyasha to his knees and the gruesome sight of the slaughter made Kagome made lose what little contents she had in her stomach.

It turned out that there wasn't just the dead with them either. Almost immediately, living soldiers appeared, wearing the dark green uniforms of the Reemian Army. They had been sent to search for survivors; what they found was two, travel weary teenagers, one a demon, no less. Inuyasha was going to put up a fight (out of instinct) until the small band of soldiers assured him they meant no harm. In fact, they accompanied them across the border into Reem.

Where they were then taken to a government outpost for questioning.

The officials there already knew who they were; they had heard about what happened in Lenear through their informants. Inuyasha and Kagome took turns telling _their_ side of the story, hoping they would listen. Surprisingly, they did. Everything they said was recorded and taken seriously. The officials were particularly interested in the fact that one of the most influential people in Haden was actually a halfling with his own agenda.

"This is just the evidence we needed," one of the officials had told them. "We had suspicions of such activities, but without some hard evidence, there was nothing we could do. But thanks to you two, our chances are better. A blow like this would definitely help us win this war!"

"So you're going to liberate the facility?" Kagome had asked hopefully.

"It's not that simple," another official had said. "It's difficult for us to get into Lenear right now, for one thing. We're also running low on troops; we won't have enough to send in there for some time. My colleague here has gotten ahead of himself. If anything, this situation might have to be taken care of _after_ we win the war. I'm sorry kids, but that's just the way it is."

Kagome had been heartbroken. Inuyasha tried to cheer her up, telling her that she did her best, but his attempt was in vain.

They were wanted in Haden, but in Reem, they were just two other refugees. In fact, as thanks for the information they had provided, the government granted them honorary citizenship. Kagome had mentioned that she knew someone in Reem, and so the officials located and contacted Mr. Mushin. After confirming that he was a retired Reemian councilman and could be trusted, Kagome and Inuyasha were offered to stay with him for the time being. Plans were also discussed about contacting Kagome's family back in Haden without any messages being intercepted. The officials promised Kagome they would work on it and even considered working on a way to smuggle the Higurashis into Reem as well.

And that's how Inuyasha and Kagome found themselves living in the safety of Reem. The kind old man took them in without hesitation and the government even sent him monthly checks to pay for their things on their behalf. Kagome was given her own room and Inuyasha bunked with Mushin's godson Miroku.

For Inuyasha, everything seemed so surreal. No longer was he forced to live in a small, grey cell. He now had something of a home and was free to do whatever he wished. He got to see Kagome every single day and he had soon made friends with Miroku and Sango as well.

The city they lived in was nothing like Lenear at all: there were just as many plants as there were buildings, with birds singing happily in the much cleaner air. Everything was bursting with color and excitement; it was a city full of life. Nobody gawked or screamed at Inuyasha when he walked down the street, for there was always demons walking down the street. Humans and demons didn't live in perfect harmony, but they lived together without much fuss and tension. Everyone was equal in Reem.

His friends introduced him to all sorts of fun things he had missed out on during his years in captivity. Kagome and Sango took him shopping and he got a whole new wardrobe. Miroku instructed him in the ways of video games and the computer. They went out to eat, went to movies and concerts, and Inuyasha had even been talked into going to a simulation theater. All of his previous experiences with sims had never been pleasant, so naturally he was wary. But when the true purpose of simulations was shown to him, he was surprised at how much he enjoyed himself. They programmed the setting to the moon and played a game of laser tag; it was the most fun Inuyasha had had in very long time.

He was free. He had a place to go and people to interact with. He wasn't considered an outcast. He was even going to be enrolled into school that fall. No one controlled his life, no one treated him badly, no one condemned him to a prison of endless grey. The sky was blue, the world bright, and his longtime dream had finally come true.

So why wasn't that enough for him?

Staring up at the blue sky, Inuyasha sighed. He wanted this to be enough, for his _and_ Kagome's sake. But he just couldn't help to feel that he had run away and given up. The Haden Research Facility still stood and Naraku still lived. Inuyasha was at war with himself. Part of him wanted to move on and enjoy this fresh start of life. Another part urged him to return to Haden and take care of some unfinished business. If he didn't, wouldn't that make him just the same as his selfish half-brother?

Someone bumped into him and cursed. Inuyasha, interrupted from his thoughts, reluctantly apologized and came back down to earth so he could watch where he going this time as he wandered aimlessly down the busy street. Mushin had sent them out to run his errands earlier. Sango came along too, saying she needed to buy cat food. Along the way, Inuyasha had accidently been separated from his friends. In the loud and crowded city, finding them proved to be too difficult, so he simply gave up searching and hoped he would run across them eventually.

More because he was bored than thirsty, he stopped at street vendor and bought himself a soda with what little money he had. He wandered away from the crowds, something he still wasn't used to and didn't like, and headed towards the outside of the city park, where the foot traffic was a lot less dense. He plopped down on a stone bench and sipped at his soda nonchalantly.

"There you are!" cried a voice, and Inuyasha's soda almost went flying out of his hands as a little girl tried to leap into his arms. She gave him such a start that he choked and spat his soda out into the grass on his left.

"The hell?" he said, pushing the girl off him. It was a human girl of about eight or nines years old. She was dressed in an orange and white summer dress and had some of her brown hair pulled up in a ponytail on the side of her head. As she stared back at him, her little face turned beet red.

"Oh my gosh!" she cried, her hands to mouth. "I'm sorry mister! I thought you were someone else. Please forgive me for my rude behavior, I'm really sorry!"

"Whatever," Inuyasha said, calming down. "It's all right, I guess. Now scat kid. Go find your mom or whatever."

"My mommy's dead," she said simply. "I was with my friends but I got lost. I can't find them anywhere, so I'm hoping they find me instead."

Much to his annoyance, this odd little girl took a seat next to him on the bench. It wasn't that he didn't like children, he just wasn't used to them. Why wasn't she scared of him? It was pretty obvious that he was demon, or at least part demon. Were all little kids unafraid like this? Or was it only Reemian kids? And what was she expecting _him_ to do? Inuyasha couldn't find his own friends, let alone hers.

"I wanted to pick them flowers," the girl continued conversationally. "But the park ranger said I'm not allowed to. I wonder why not? Do you know why?"

"No," he answered tersely, taking a long sip of his drink.

"Oh well. You know, it's really funny," she said brightly, "How much you look like one of my friends. You kinda act like him too, hee-hee. But you have dog ears and he doesn't. I think they're cute. Your ears, I mean."

"Uh-huh," he replied, not really listening.

"I really hope they find me soon. It will be getting dark in a couple of hours. And I'm really tired. And hungry. It's been a while since I had anything to eat or drink. I shouldn't have wandered off though. I hope he won't be mad at me. I don't wanna get in trouble. Do you think I'll get in trouble?"

Inuyasha took a deep a breath and silently counted to ten, like Kagome had taught him. He needed to keep his patience. She was just a little kid; she couldn't help it if she was annoying as hell. That how little kids are. Plus, she was lost and alone, just like he was. He could at least sit there and put up with her until someone came to pick her up.

"Here," he said, offering her the rest of his soda in hopes that she would drink it and shut up for a minute. "You can have it. I'm not thirsty anymore."

"Really? Gee, thanks mister! You're really nice."

Inuyasha blinked. Nice? _Him_? Kagome would have laughed her ass off she if had heard that one.

"Rin."

They both looked up at the same time and Inuyasha's eyes grew wide.

"I've been looking all over..." The man's voice suddenly trailed off when he saw who was sitting next to the girl. For the smallest moment, he almost looked surprised. Then he was impassive again, his face devoid of any emotion.

"Mr. Sesshomaru!" exclaimed the little girl, setting her drink down on the bench and leaping up. "I know you'd come find me! I'm sorry I got lost."

"You better be!" squeaked a voice. It came from a green demon carrying a large duffel bag. He was shorter than the girl and looked irritable. "You gave Mr. Sesshomaru a lot of trouble, missy! Why he puts up with it, I'll never know!"

The demon and the girl quickly got into an argument. Inuyasha paid them no attention as he stared up at his half-brother in shock. Sesshomaru simply stared back with half-lidded eyes.

Inuyasha never thought he would ever see his half-brother again. And now, after all these years, there he was, right in front of him. Inuyasha didn't know what to do. He was confused: why Sesshomaru here? What was he doing? Why did he have this little girl, this _human _girl, with him? The green demon made sense: Sesshomaru like being the boss of someone. But he didn't like children or humans.

Inuyasha didn't know how to react either. He was shocked, then angered, now confused. He had always told himself that if he did ever see Sesshomaru again, he would beat the living snot out of him for abandoning him like he did. But now he found himself too overwhelmed to do anything, let alone punch him.

Eventually, he managed to get his feet and looked Sesshomaru right in the eye.

"Well?" he shouted. "Aren't you going to say anything?"

Sesshomaru seemed thoughtful for a moment.

"Took you long enough," he finally replied. It might have been Inuyasha's imagination, but he thought he saw the slightest hint of a smile. But no, he definitely must have been imagining it. Sesshomaru never smiled at anything, not even when he's being smug.

"I take it you're angry?" he asked.

"Like hell! I know you're a bastard, Sesshomaru, but I didn't know you were a coward too!"

Rin and the demon's argument came to an abrupt stop and they both gasped. However, Sesshomaru's cool expression didn't change. He almost looked bored.

"I believe you're the bastard in this family, as I recall," he said. "And I can assure you I am not a coward. Believe it or not, I've been quite busy these past few years. I have my plans, Inuyasha. I know what I'm doing. What about you?"

Sesshomaru didn't give him time to recover from his shock or answer the question. He simply turned around and walked off. The little green demon wordlessly shuffled off after his boss. The little girl, however, paused and flashed Inuyasha a quick smile before hurrying after the two, shouting for them to wait up.

Still in shock, Inuyasha watched them leave. Was it just him, or was there something different about his brother? And what did he mean 'I have my plans'? If Sesshomaru was up to something, it would be something big.

As he was debating whether or not to follow him, someone shouted his name.

"Inuyasha!" He looked behind him to see Kagome and his friends walking towards him. When he turned back around, Sesshomaru was already out of sight. He snorted, then faced his companions.

"There you are," Kagome huffed. "We've been looking all over for you! If you're going to go off by yourself, give us a heads up next time!"

She paused when she saw his vacant expression. At first she was miffed, thinking he wasn't listening to her (again) but after a second glance, it looked more like he lost in thought. Not happy thoughts, either. She looked at him worriedly.

"Inuyasha?"

"Eh?"

"What's wrong?"

'_I know what I'm doing. What about you?'_

"I...I'm going back, Kagome. There's some things I still need to do."

Kagome nodded. She knew what he meant and knew that he would want to eventually.

"I know," she said. "I'm going too."

Before Inuyasha had the chance to tell her no, Miroku popped up from behind his shoulder and shouted, "Me too!"

"What?" Inuyasha snapped. "Why?"

"I have my reasons," Miroku said smoothly, unwrapping a piece of gum and popping it into his mouth. "One of them being: friends need to stick together. Especially when going against an evil demon tyrant during wartime. Don't tell me you think you can handle all that on your own, Inuyasha."

"Well, if Miroku's going, I guess I am too." Inuyasha's head swivelled forward to face Sango, who was carrying a jumbo sized bag of cat food under one arm.

"Someone has to keep an eye on him," she explained when he looked at her questioningly.

"Oh, Sango!" Miroku cried dramatically. "I am touched by your heart-felt concerns for me!"

"That's not what I meant," she said, one eye twitching. "I know how you flirt with other girls when I'm not around, Miroku. I'm not stupid."

Miroku immediately broke into a extravagant monologue about how, yes, he was _sometimes _tempted by sin to "associate" with other females of charming beauty, but he assured her that it was simply a terrible old habit he was valiantly fighting to break free of, and that no matter what, his heart was and would always be forever hers. Sango just rolled her eyes as he babbled on. Kagome was studying Inuyasha's face. Just by looking at him, she could tell that he was confused and obviously distraught.

"It's like Miroku said," she told him. "Friends stick together. I know you're worried, but trust me, everything will be all right."

"But there's no point for anyone else to go," Inuyasha protested. "You'd be putting yourselves at risk for no reason! That's just stupid."

"We do have reasons. Me, for example: I promised myself I would free everyone in that horrible place, and that justice would win. But I couldn't do it. Now, everyday, I think about all those poor captives, and poor Shippo, who are still waiting to be rescued and how I failed them. They can't wait until after the war. Reem might not even win the war! That's why I want to go back. I want to keep my promise, and I think that if I have help this time, I might be able to."

"Feh, you're trying to make me feel guilty, aren't you?"

"No, I'm trying to make you see the sense in working together," she said. "Look, it doesn't matter how much you grumble about it, Inuyasha. I'm going. We're all going. End of story."

He opened his mouth to say something, but a little voice inside his head stopped him.

'_She's right, you know. And it's okay. You're allowed to have friends, and help too. So stop being a stubborn ass and get over it!'_

Even though the last line from his conscience sorely bothered him, Inuyasha conceded that maybe, just this once, it was right. It's not that he didn't want help; he was actually worried his friends' well-being. But that's exactly how they felt about him going alone, wasn't it? So maybe it would be all right to just give in and let them come..?

An image of Sesshomaru flashed in his head. Sesshomaru said he had his plans. He also had a demon and a little girl accompanying him. The demon who followed him faithfully and the little human girl who called them her friends. The girl who had gotten lost...Sesshomaru had looked for her. When Inuyasha remembered that, it finally hit him about what was so different with his brother.

Sesshomaru used to be a solitary and selfish person, who only took care of his younger half-brother out of duty rather than free will. Yet, somehow, he changed. He now traveled with others, and he came after that girl, even though he didn't have to. He had his plans, but even so, he wasn't going about them by himself anymore.

'_What about you?'_

"All right, fine," he agreed with a sigh. "But we need to know exactly what we're dong first. We need to come up with some rules, and a fool-proof plan, so we're fully prepared for this. If you guys insist on doing this, then we're gonna do it right, you got that?"

Kagome smiled that wonderful smile he loved to see so much, and Sango and Miroku stopped bickering long enough to give each other high fives.

"We should head back now and get to work then," said Sango. The others nodded in agreement and they started off back to Mushin's house as the sun began its slow journey down the horizon.

"You know I love you, right?" Miroku asked Sango as they walked, still trying to convince her that he was completely and utterly loyal to her.

"Do you now?" she said. "Hmpf. Prove it to me, then. You can start by carrying this home for me."

She handed him the large bag of cat food and he immediately began to sag under its heavy weight, but he grinned and took it without complaint.

"Anything for you, my dear."

"Geez, Miroku," Inuyasha, who was walking alongside him, commented with disdain. "You're such a pushover. She says 'jump' and you say 'how high?'"

"You're obviously ignorant when it comes women," his replied, lowering his voice. "Don't be so proud. Girls love it when you do stuff for them. It shows devotion! You know, if you ever want to get anywhere with Kagome, you're going to have to listen to her more often or else it's hopeless."

Inuyasha jerked to a halt so that Miroku had time to get away before he decided to snap his neck. The other boy just laughed to himself as he shifted the weight of the cat food in his arms and walked ahead to catch up with Sango and Kagome. The three got into an animated conversation, but Kagome, who noticed that Inuyasha was hanging back, left her friends and walked next to him.

"You're still not upset about this, are you?"

"No," he sighed, then added, "Yes. Maybe. A little. I just don't understand what is wrong with you guys. It's going to be dangerous. You of all people should know that, Kagome."

"I know, but I'm not worried," she said. "Because I know you'll be there to protect me. Besides, you're free now, Inuyasha. You don't have to do this alone anymore."

She held his hand in hers and squeezed it. He seemed uncertain for a moment, then he smiled and squeezed back.

"Okay, Kagome. If you say so."

He was going back to a place he hated to face a man he despised. From then on out, everything was going to get more dangerous, more difficult, and more tough. He was going back to his past to decide his future.

But it was his choice.

No one was making him do it.

He was going because he wanted to.

And he wasn't going alone. His friends would be there to back him up. Kagome would be there to keep him tame. Together, they could do it.

He wasn't nothing. He wasn't no one. He wasn't an animal.

He was him, and he was free.

**--End--**


	17. Omake Part

**--Omake Author Note--**

**"Animal I Have Become"**

**By Three Days Grace**

I can't escape this hell  
So many times I've tried  
But I'm still caged inside  
Somebody get me through this nightmare  
I can't control myself

So what if you can see the darkest side of me?  
No one will ever change this animal I have become  
Help me believe it's not the real me  
Somebody help me tame this animal  
(This animal, this animal)

I can't escape myself  
(I can't escape myself)  
So many times I've lied  
(So many times I've lied)  
But there's still rage inside  
Somebody get me through this nightmare  
I can't control myself

So what if you can see the darkest side of me?  
No one will ever change this animal I have become  
Help me believe it's not the real me  
Somebody help me tame this animal I have become  
Help me believe it's not the real me  
Somebody help me tame this animal

Somebody help me through this nightmare  
I can't control myself  
Somebody wake me from this nightmare  
I can't escape this hell

(This animal, this animal, this animal, this animal, this animal, this animal, this animal)

So what if you can see the darkest side of me?  
No one will ever change this animal I have become  
Help me believe it's not the real me  
Somebody help me tame this animal I have become  
Help me believe it's not the real me  
Somebody help me tame this animal  
(This animal I have become)

**

* * *

**

**THERE!**

That's the song that inspired this story! If you'll recall, I stated that this was originally going to be a songfic. But that was when, believe it or not, I thought this story would only be about **three chapters long**. Obviously there was a change of plans, thanks to my overactive imagination. This story ended up being **way **longer, taking me about four months to write. (I should have just written this for my Nano in November. xD) It was tons of fun to write, but honestly, I'm glad it's over. Writing the same thing for four almost-consecutive months can really fry your brain.

If you're wondering if I'll write a sequel or not--don't hold your breath. Maybe, someday...but not any someday soon. I'm sorry I ended it the way I did, but if I wrote a complete ending that explained everything and tied up all those loose ends, it would take me another four months. I just can't do that right now; I need to write something else for a change. My other stories have been neglected too long. **SO! **I apologize with **all my heart**! For now, you'll just hafta take it as it is and let your imagination do the rest. That is the plus side to cliffys, you know: you get to decide for yourself what happens next.

**Super Big Awesome T****hankz to everyone who read this story and gave me so much support! I wish I could thank you all personally, but that would take a while. OO But seriously. Thankyouthankyouthankyou! YOU ALL ROCK!! **

**(n.n)v**

Because this has 15 chapters, 50,000+ words, over 200 reviews (all excluding this note), and has apparently been successful, I'm going to make a big deal out of it with an extra chapter of me rambling about the story! **OH YESH!** But yes, the story is over. So you don't hafta put up with my non-sense and read all of this, if you don't want to.

But me? I'm **so** gonna party. xD

* * *

**(Omake! The After Party!)**

_The story finally have ended, the fanfic author decided to throw a big party to celebrate for all of the characters she malnipulated--I mean, characters who worked so hard to play their parts! Wootness. -tosses confetti-_

_By the punch bowl..._

**Shippo: **That was such a crappy ending. Cliffhangers are so lame.

**Sota**: You're just pissed because you got screwed over.

**Kikyo**: Yeah, at least you _were in it! _I didn't even get to make one little cameo! -grumblegrumble-

_Doing Karaoke..._

**Naraku: **If ya see a faded sign at the side of the road, that says 'fifteen miles to the...'

**Sesshomaru: **Looooove SHACK! Love Shack, yeah-e-yeaaah.

**Miroku: **Hey, you two already went! I can't sing 'Baby Got Back' with you guys hogging it!

**Naraku: **(Too bad.) I got me a car, it's as big as a whale, and we're headed on down to the Love Shack!

_On the dance floor..._

**Man:** May I have this dance?

**Kagome: **Okay.

_They dance to the B-52 music._

**Kagome: **I'm sorry, but I don't recognize you. What part in the story did you play?

**Man: **I was Doctor B in Part 13. You know, one of the bad guys who tried to kill Inuyasha? It's a shame the author didn't let me...

**Kagome: **-narrows eyes- You don't say...

**Doctor B: **-his words were uninterptable due to the fact that they were loud, agonized screams of pain-

_In some other spot..._

**Sango: **I gets no appreciation, youse knows? -hic- Every tings I does for him and he stills goes arounds with des other girls! -hic- No appreciaton!

**Jaken: **I hear ya sister! -hic- It's da same for me. I wub my Sesshy-poo wits all my heart, but he stills kicks me arounds like I some..some thing youse kicks around!

**Kagura: **Same here, dude. Noes appreciation. We're all in the same coat. -hic-

**Rin: **Um...are you guys drunk?

**Sango: **O'course not! Sango's a good girl! Scissorsly. I'm nots. I swear to drunk, I am not god!

**Rin: **Okay, who spiked the punch?!

_Playing 'Pin the Tail on the Half-demon'..._

**Inuyasha: **HOLYFUCKINGMONKEYDUNGBATMANTHATHURTS!

**Zana:** Yay, I WIN!

**Inuyasha: **I hate you.

**(Party Pooped)**

* * *

**--Deleted Scenes--**

_The things I was going to write but didn't._

**Koga vs Inuyasha**

Koga was supposed to be another demon locked up in the Facility. He and Inuyasha were to be forced in the same room together for an hour while scientists studied 'behavior patterns and interaction between demon-kind' behind a one-way mirror. Of course, they end up fighting. However, I decided not to write this after realizing it had no relevance to the plot and would only slow the story down, so I cut it. It's a shame though; Koga's one of my favorite characters. xD

**Shippo Escapes**

Yes, Shippo was supposed to get out! He was to somehow escape during the same time Inuyasha did, somehow find his way to Kagome, and somehow go with them. Please note the many 'somehows'. I couldn't figure out a way to free Shippo and not hinder the story...so I took the easy way out and didn't. Sorry Shippo.

**Alternate Naraku vs Kagome/Inuyasha**

For Part 15 (The Last Part) I had it planned that Naraku would pushed Kagome off the roof instead of taking her hostage. Inuyasha would have assumed that she fell to her death, while in actuality, she managed to grab onto part of the building and climbs back up. Then, while fighting Inuyasha, Naraku ends up back at the edge, right when Kagome climbs up to it. She was to grab his leg and pull them both down. The rest of it follows as written, with Inuyasha catching Kagome and Naraku falling. I ended up having Naraku pull a gun instead and going down that path simply because it was easier to write and made more sense.

**Naraku Blows Up**

Originally, I had written that, while falling down from the roof, the fake Naraku exploded. After re-reading that, I started laughing. It was just too silly, so I rewrote it with him simply disappearing mysteriously.

**The Kiss**

Plan A was to not bother writing any kissing scenes. I'm not good at them and besides, it's a little out of character. Despite their feelings for each other, Kagome and Inuyasha don't do a whole lot of kissing. In fact, they only kiss once in the entire series. However, since some people seemed to expect a kissing part, I came up with Plan B. In Plan B, after catching Kagome and landing on the next building, Inuyasha gets swept away by his emotions and kisses her without thinking.

But I ended going with Plan C, which was: screw Plan B and go back to Plan A.

By the way, in the author's note for that chapter, remember how I was apologizing? _This_ is what I was talking about. xD I purposely exagerated it to sound like one of them was going die, to build up suspense. But yes, I was refering to the no kissing. I'm just evil like that.

**Miroku's Glasses**

Because Miroku played the 'techo-geek' role in the story, I wanted to give him glasses. Fortunately, I realized two things: 1) that's sterotyping geeks and 2) it takes place in a time with super advanced technology, so why the hell would anyone have glasses? So that got tossed. Come to think of it...I never even described his appearance, did I? Heh.

* * *

**--Cameos--**

_Minor characters I snuck in who you may or may not have noticed._

**Suikotsu**: Remember the doctor in Part Ten who sends Inuyasha to Naraku? It's one of the Band of Seven! It wasn't mentioned at all, so I'm guessing that either no one remembered who he was and thought it was an OC or it was just so flipping obvious that no one cared to mention it. Well, anyway, he's the Bo7 guy with the spilt personality; that's why he acts so weird in this story.

**Kagura: **She first shows up in Part 11, although she is never mentioned by name. It's Naraku's secretary! Some of you spotted her, so yay! For those who didn't, there were so subtle hints in that chapter abut her indentity. Her black hair and red eyes are mentioned, and when Inuyasha goes to see Naraku, he notes that the scent is same, even though the secretary isn't there.

**Onigumi: **The human part of Naraku is briefly mentioned in Part 12. Naraku uses the name as his surname.

**Mushin: **He's mentioned a couple times. For those of you who forget, Mushin is the fat, alcohol loving monk who raised Miroku in the series.

**Gramps:** Kagome's grandfather, the priest at their family shrine in the series, is briefly seen sleeping in Part 13.

**Hojo: **In Part 13, when Kagome is thinking about how all men are brainless idiots, one of her examples was "that clueless guy from her school that just couldn't take a hint." She was refering to Hojo!

**Jaken: **The little green demon. Duh.

* * *

**--References--**

_Trival tibits and unrelated jokes that probably nobody got. Plus ten bonus for each one you spotted!_

**(Tharris) **The phrase "And I'm the King of Tharris" was used three times in the story. It's basically this story's verison of "And I'm the King of France/England/Other".

**(Kagome Smells) **In Part 3, when Kagome asks Inuyasha what she smells like, he replies with "You smell nice." This is a direct quote taken from the series, from when Kagome first sees Inuyasha in his human form and they battle that spider guy. During that episode, Inuyasha, who's half asleep, tells Kagome that she smells nice. It was so sweet, so I included it in here too!

**(1, 2, 5!) **Part 3 was titled 'Part Five--I mean three!' after King Arthur in 'Monty Python's The Holy Grail', who tends to count "One, two, five!" and then shouts "Three!" after being corrected. xD I love that movie.

**(Takoyaki Power!) **In the author's note of Part 4, I mention my Takoyaki power. This is in reference to the manga 'Fruits Basket'. To those of you familiar with the story, this is from when Ritsu gets takoyaki for Shigure, who said it helps him write. (Takoyaki is a Japanese food that's kinda like an octopus dumpling,) When Shigure mentions that he doesn't have his manuscript done, Ritsu overexagarates his need for takoyaki to write and cries "Write with takoyaki power!" xD It's now my writing battle cry and you'll see me mentioning it all the time in my work. Ironically, however, I have yet to actually eat takoyaki.

**(Omake) **Througout the story, I sometimes added little shorts at the end titled "Omake Reacts". Omake is Japanese for 'bonus'. The React part was just me being too lazy to write out 'reinactment'. You often see things shorts like these at the end of a manga, showing a funny retelling what happened in that volume; it's where I got the idea.

**(Change the World!) **In the author's note of Part 9, the song I was "singing" was one of the theme songs from the Inuyasha anime.

**(Okama) **Naraku is given a middle name so the plaque on his desk didn't read just "Naraku Onigumi". (Too plain.) The middle name I gave him, Okama, is the Japanese term for transvestite. xD Although Naraku isn't a crossdresser, he does look kinda girly, doncha agree?

**(Moo)** I mentioned 'evil purple alien space cows' as the reason for Kagome's lack of an appearance in several chapters, and you may have gotten a reply from me with that same reason if you asked where Kagome was in your review. xD It's an inside joke. Purple just so happens to be my favorite color and I love cows for no particular reason, so purple cows are awesome. I started using blaming the evil purple alien space cows when something went wrong or couldn't be explained out of randomness.

**(IM)** In Part 13, Miroku and Kagome have a conversation through instant messaging. Miroku's screen name says "gods gift to women". Kagome's, forestspirit4, is actually a reference to Inuyasha's name. Now, we all know 'inu' is Japanese for dog. Well, 'yasha' means forest spirit. I couldn't come up with a clever screen name for Kagome, so I just used that.

**(Moon Prism POWER!) **In Part 13, Souta sings annoying songs to snap Kagome out of her funk. The second song he sang was actually the beginning of the American theme song for Sailor Moon, lol. I was trying to think of other annoying songs and it just popped in my head. Don't get me wrong; I used to love Sailor Moon. It was my very first anime. So just think of this as a tribute to it. xD

**(Nasal Flats) **The song Souta was singing in the Omake React of Part 13 to annoy Kagome was 'Me and My Gang' by the Nasal--I mean, Rascal Flats. No offense to any fans, but I just think that song is so annoying. (Look, Rascal Flats, who do you think you're kidding? You don't have a gang. And you don't rock. You're a country version of NYSNC!)

**(Copy Cat) **The fake Naraku encountered in Part 14 was this story's version of Naraku's golems.

**(Meow) **In Part 15, although it isn't directly mentioned, the cat food Sango bought was for Kirara.

* * *

Well, my friends, it looks like this fanfic is finally finished. If you actually read through all of this, give yourself a pat on the back. Now, before you have the chance to runaway, I have a few last words.

Once again, I would like to thank all you readers. You guys made writing this ten times more fun. I had a blast with it and I hope you did too. This will probably be the last fanfic I write for a while. If you're interested in reading more stuff by me, you'll have to take what I've already written, or check out my fictionpress account for my original fiction, which is what I'm going to work on now that I'm free from this. xD If you'd like to contact me for whatever reason, feel free to send me an e-mail. It's been real fun and I feel so proud that I actually--well, kindasorta--finished this! Hoorah-hoorah!

**Sincerely, and without a doubt, yours truly,**

**Zana Moon**


	18. Wft, there's another part?

**Dear Readers,**

Guess what? I'm writing a sequel after all. The first part should be up shortly. To find out more, just go to my profile and click on the story titled To Free a Soul. (I'm not very creative when it comes to titles, I know.)

**PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE A REVIEW FOR THIS!**

Questions or comments can either be e-mailed to me or posted in a review for the new story.

The reason I'm adding this little notice here is because many of TTAA's readers have this story on alert. Basically, this is just an easy way to let them know that a sequel is finally be written, if they wish to read it. I'll only keep this notice up for about a week before deleting it and never will this story receive an "update" again.

**More explaination later,**

**Zana**


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